S Korea vows to heighten its missile defense in response to 'threats' by North

South Korea on Monday vowed to heighten its missile defence capabilities in response to "threats" posed by North Korea's short-range missiles. "Our military has been developing our own missile defence capabilities with a focus on the Patriot system in order to counter threats posed by North Korea's short-range missiles," Yonhap News Agency quoted South Korea's defence ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo, as saying.

"We will continue to beef up such capabilities aimed at effectively fending off threats from all directions," she added. Patriot system was developed by the defence ministry especially to respond to nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

This comes a week after North Korea test-fired two short-range missiles, just five days after the launch of a barrage of projectiles into the East Sea. However, the ministry has admitted that it has not yet determined the details of the weapons tested by Pyongyang. "The South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are analysing details of the North's projectiles, and no details are available at this stage," Choi said.