Anchor: North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Tuesday morning. Two of the projectiles flew over 500 kilometers in an apparent show of the North's capability to send missiles to South Korea's southern region, where the U.S. THAAD missile interceptors are planned to be located. The launches came less than a week after the South Korean government revealed the southern location of the U.S. missile interceptors.
Our Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report: North Korea test-fired three ballistic missiles from its eastern coast Tuesday morning.
 
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) said the North launched three ballistic missiles toward the East Sea from Hwangju in North Hwanghae Province between 5:45 a.m. and 6:40 a.m.
 
The JCS spokesman said the projectiles are presumed to be short-range Scud or mid-range Nodong missiles. Two of the three missiles flew around 500 to 600 kilometers.

[Sound bite: Col. Jeon Ha-kyu - Spokesman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (Korean)]
"The trajectories of the ballistic missiles were enough to strike all of South Korea including [the southern port city of] Busan."
"North Korea's latest missile launches are grave provocations against national security and the safety of citizens. [The South Korean military] strongly denounces the North's repeated provocations."

The U.S. Strategic Command said two of the three projectiles are believed to be Scud missiles and one was a Nodong.
 
Yang Wook of the Korea Defense and Security Forum and other military experts told KBS that the launches have to do with the joint Seoul-Washington decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense(THAAD) battery on South Korean soil.
 
[Sound bite: Yang Wook - Senior Researcher, Korea Defense and Security Forum (Korean)]
"In fact, North Korea nowadays continues to launch missiles to develop different trajectories, which South Korea is unaware of, to target our weak point."
"A Scud missile with a range of 500 to 600 kilometers is, of course, the target of the THAAD battery... North Korea is expected to put efforts to fire or attack in ways that are hard for THAAD to intercept."
 
Tuesday's launch came six days after the South Korea-U.S. alliance announced the southern town of Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province as the missile interceptor's location. 

Seoul's Defense Ministry said last week that the location of Seongju is outside of the 200-kilometer range of North Korea's 300-millimeter artillery. Two of the missiles launched on Tuesday, however, flew beyond the safety range in an apparent show of the North's capability to strike the U.S.' THAAD base in South Korea.

Following the announcement of the THAAD decision last week, North Korea’s military threatened to take "physical action" against the missile defense battery immediately upon knowing the location for its deployment.

The JCS said it is closely monitoring the related situation and maintaining full readiness. 
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.