"We have detected that North Korea fired two missiles, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, into the West Sea on Thursday," a South Korean military source said.

"The North, which fired one short-range missile into the East Sea on May 25, attempted to fire another in the West Sea that day, but did not. It's seen as the North firing those missiles that it didn't launch at that time," the source said.

Thursday's missiles are believed to have been launched from a base in Jeungsan County, South Pyongan Province in the direction of the coast of North Pyongan Province.

South Korean military authorities are said to be carefully watching for more missiles from the North Korean base as the Stalinist country is believed to have a stockpile of surface-to-ship missiles.

It is believed the missiles were Seersucker surface-to-ship missiles with a range of 100 to 120 km, an improved version of the Silkworm surface-to-ship missile.

The firings were part of a routine exercise, sources said, although North Korea's past missile tests have mostly been performed in the East Sea.

The missile tests came only a day before an inter-Korean meeting of military generals slated for Friday. Some analysts believe the tests were a bid to improve North Korea's negotiating position at the talks, which will concern the northern limit line (NLL) in the West Sea.

Other analysts say the missiles were a response to U.S. President George W. Bush's designation on Tuesday of North Korea as one of the world's worst dictatorships.

North Korea's missile test on May 25, fired from an unspecified base in Dancheon, South Hamgyong Province, came the same day that South Korea launched its first Aegis-equipped warship, the King Sejong.

In response to that firing, the headquarters of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said they presumed the missile was part of North Korea's routine annual exercises that were being conducted on both its eastern and western coasts. But they couldn't pinpoint the exact number of missiles fired, their type, or the exact point they were launched from.

(englishnews@chosun.com )