It has been a ritual in the North Korean military to shoe their might especially, on U.S national holidays such as Memorial Day and the U.S Independence Day. In the year 2006, North Korea test fired a barrage of short and long range missiles including the Taepodong-2 variants.

Toady, on the 4th of July, 2009, as the United States celebrates its Independence Day, North Korea again showed its military might with the launch of 7 more short and medium range missiles. According to the latest reports, North Korean military test fired six missiles in the morning and a seventh one in the evening. This new series of tests come just two days after Pyongyang launched four short range missiles off its east coast.

The consequences of this latest missile tests could be grave for North Korea, as the United States is rallying for support to further toughen the sanction imposed on North Korea by the United Nations Security Council, since its second nuclear test on May 25th, 2009.

According to South Korean defense officials, North Korea launched three missiles in the early hours of Saturday, followed by another launch around noon and a final three more launches in the afternoon, All these missiles are believed to be ballistic in their configuration and covered a distance of approximately 250 miles or 400 kilometers.

In a statement, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff  said,

“Our military is fully ready to counter any North Korean threats and provocations based on strong South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture.”

According to reports, the missiles fired today are also considered to be Scud missiles, the same as the ones fired on July 2nd, 2009.

As per the United Nations resolution 1874, that was enforced after the My 25th nuclear tests, North Korea ids forbidden from firing Scuds, medium-range missiles or long-range missiles. According to a senior official in the South Korean government,

“The missiles were seen as part of military exercises, but North Korea also appeared to have sent a message to the U.S. through the missile launches.”

Via AP.