SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap) — The short-range missiles that North Korea test-fired this week were a new type of ballistic weapon similar to Russia’s Iskander, the military authorities here said Friday, citing the projectiles’ unique flight pattern.

North Korea on Thursday fired two short-range missiles into the East Sea from near the eastern coastal town of Wonsan, and both flew around 600 kilometers at an altitude of around 50 km, according to an officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

“Differing from a general parabolic trajectory, the Iskander shows a complicated flight pattern and what North Korea fired yesterday showed a similar one,” the officer noted.

It is the first time that the military authorities have officially offered such an assessment, though experts have said North Korea has tested its version of the Iskander, a ground-to-ground short-range ballistic missile, since May.