N.Korea Fires Cruise Missiles on Eve of S.Korean Election Day

North Korea fired a barrage of cruise missiles presumed to be surface-to-ship missiles and conducted an air combat drill on Tuesday, a day before the general election in South Korea.

The North ritually stages military provocations to coincide with South Korean elections for reasons that are lost in the mist of time.

"The North fired what we presume were short-range cruise missiles from Munchon, Kangwon Province into the East Sea," the Joint Chiefs of Staff here said Tuesday. "We understand that they flew some 150 km."

It was the first cruise missile test in about three years. Around the same time, the North also staged a live-fire drill scrambling Sukhoi SU-25 and MiG fighter jets in Wonsan in the same province.

The spectacle lasted some three to four hours.

Military authorities are trying to figure out why the North launched the provocation. Neither the South Korean military nor the government protested.

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