(KUNA) -- North Korea test-fired several missiles into the sea off the country's west coast Friday, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting defense sources. The missiles were fired at approximately 10:30 a.m. (0130 GMT). The test, believed to be of Russian Styx missiles, comes one day after the North threw out all South Korean government officials from the inter-Korean industrial complex on the border in apparent disgruntlement over new President Lee Myung-bak's hard-line North Korea policy, the agency said.The North was believed to have fired at least four missiles, but that the type could not be immediately confirmed. A Styx missile is believed to have an average range of 46 kilometers. A North Korean Navy vessel was detected earlier this week in the West Sea in what South Korean officials believed to be part of preparations for a missile launch, said the report. The presidential office reacted calmly to news that North Korea launched missiles, dismissing it as part of "ordinary military training" in the communist state. "The South Korean government regards North Korea's missile firing as merely a part of its ordinary military training," presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan was quoted as saying.
Spokesman Lee also said that Seoul would just continue to watch the missile-related situation carefully. "We're convinced that North Korea doesn't want inter-Korean relations to deteriorate." On Wednesday, President Lee urged North Korea to completely abandon its nuclear weapons program to pave the ground for inter-Korean peace and closer economic cooperation.