SEOUL, SOUTh Korea —
North Korea fired six short-range projectiles into the sea off its east coast Thursday, Seoul officials said, just hours after the U.N. Security Council approved the toughest sanctions on Pyongyang in two decades for its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.
The North’s launches also come shortly after Seoul’s parliament passed its first legislation on human rights in North Korea.
Defense spokesman Moon Sang Gyun said the projectiles were fired from the eastern coastal town of Wonsan, adding that authorities were trying to determine what exactly North Korea fired. The projectiles could be missiles, artillery or rockets, according to the Defense Ministry.
A South Korean official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who did not want to be named, citing office rules, said North Korea fired six projectiles that flew 60 to 90 miles before landing in the sea.
North Korea routinely test-fires missiles and rockets, but it often conducts more weapons launches when angered at international condemnation.
The U.S. State Department said it had seen reports of the launches and was monitoring the situation. Pyongyang conducted its fourth nuclear test in January, making the widely disputed claim that it successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb.
