North Korea has fired five short-range missiles into the East Sea.

A South Korean government source said that the North on Monday fired five KN-02 short-range ground-to-ground missiles with a range of 120 kilometers --- two in the morning and three in the afternoon.

The source said the missiles were fired from areas along the east coast between Musudan-ri in Hwadae County and Wonsan City in North Hamgyeong Province, adding that the government could not pinpoint the exact locations of the launches since they were fired from mobile launchers.

The KN-02 missile is a modified version of the SS-21 missile manufactured by the former Soviet Union.

The circular error probability (CEP) of the North Korean missile is about 100 meters. CEP is the radius of a circle within which half of a missile's projectiles are expected to fall. It's an indicator of the delivery accuracy of missiles and is used as a factor in determining probable damage to a target.

The South Korean government source said that earlier this month, North Korea had banned ships from an East Sea area from October tenth until October 20th.

Military officials in Seoul suspect the latest missile launches may be part of routine military exercises, but did not rule out the possibility that they were a show of force intended to attract attention.