Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has described the projectiles launched last Saturday by North Korea as "rockets and missiles."

Speaking at a congressional hearing on Wednesday, Shanahan said that U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford called him and used the same language to describe the projectiles.

[Sound bite: Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan]
"I went for a run and then Chairman Dunford called me up and said North Korea was now shooting rockets and missiles."  

It was the first time the Pentagon has revealed details on what it believes North Korea fired off its east coast last Saturday.

The description runs counter to statements made by the head of the National Assembly defense committee Ahn Gyu-back on Tuesday, who told reporters that the projectiles do not appear to be short-range missiles. 

He added, however, that it will take some time to fully analyze the launches.