Timeline shows key events related to North Korea?s missile program3c x 3 1/8 inches; 146 mm x 79 mm;
(AP)
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.
Saturday's launches came on July 4, or U.S. Independence Day. The North has a record of timing missile tests for the U.S. national day.
"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," the presidential official said, without elaborating.
The Japanese government condemned the North's action.
The launch "is a serious act of provocation against the security of neighboring countries, including Japan, and is against the resolution of the U.N Security Council," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said in a statement. The statement also urged North Korea to suspend all missile development activities.
In Beijing, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said he had no immediate comment.
In 2006, Pyongyang fired a barrage of missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 that broke apart and fell into the ocean less than a minute after liftoff. Those launches while Americans were celebrating the Fourth of July holiday also came amid nuclear tensions with the U.S.
A long-range missile launch by North Korea toward the United States would directly flout a U.N. sanctions resolution punishing Pyongyang for its May 25 nuclear test.
Despite early speculation fueled by Japanese media and the North Korean warning to shipping, spy satellites have apparently not detected any of the preparations that would normally presage a launch.
"I think North Korea is moving step by step," Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University and an expert on the country, said Friday.
Thursday's tests were a "warm-up to medium-range missile launches," he said.
The North wants to show Washington that it is not yielding to pressure, and the regime is likely to save a long-range launch for later, he said.
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