DPRK says missiles launch part of normal military training for self-defense

PYONGYANG, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Monday that the country's missile launches are part of a military training for self-defense, the official KCNA news agency reported.

The drill, as a powerful deterrent to the U.S. and South Korean attempt for a nuclear war, "is the legitimate right of a sovereign state," the Committee for the Peaceful Unification of Korea said in a statement.

The DPRK fired two short-range missiles into the East Sea Monday for the third day after launching one on Sunday and three on Saturday, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

It is the first time that Pyongyang responded to the alleged missile launches, blaming Washington and Seoul for their joint military drills with nuclear-capable B-2 bombers.

"Pyongyang will raise its voice of denouncing the culprits who abuses the peace of the Korean Peninsula and the rest of the world," said the statement.

South Korea's presidential office urged the DPRK to stop aggravating tensions on the Korean Peninsula after Pyongyang launched six short-range missiles into the same waters since Saturday.

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