SEOUL (Dispatches) -- North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles Tuesday, Seoul said, Pyongyang’s second launch in three days and the first since South Korea and the United States began their largest joint military drills in five years.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military had “detected two short-range ballistic missiles” fired between 7:41 am (2241 GMT) and 7:51 am, which flew some 620 kilometers.
“Our military has strengthened surveillance and vigilance in preparation for additional launches,” it added.
Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said the missiles had not landed in his country’s waters, though Tokyo suspected North Korea might take “further provocative action.”
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the latest launches did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to its allies, but said the North’s weapons programs had a destabilizing effect.
The launch comes just days after Pyongyang fired two “strategic cruise missiles” from a submarine in apparent protest over the U.S.-South Korea exercises.
South Korean and American forces began 11 days of joint drills, dubbed “Freedom Shield 23,” on Monday, which will be held on a scale not seen since 2017 to counter the North’s growing threats.
In a rare move, Seoul’s military this month revealed the two allies’ special forces were staging military exercises dubbed “Teak Knife” -- which involve simulating precision strikes on key facilities in North Korea -- ahead of Freedom Shield.
It emphasized that the exercise was a “defensive one based on a combined operational plan”.
But North Korea views all such drills as rehearsals for invasion and has repeatedly warned it would take “overwhelming” action in response.
On Sunday, North Korean state media KCNA reported the country has decided to take “important practical” war deterrence measures, saying, “war provocations of the U.S. and South Korea are reaching the red line.”
Last year, North Korea declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power and launched a record-breaking number of missiles.
Leader Kim Jong Un earlier this month ordered his military to intensify drills to prepare for a “real war”.
The United States will hold an informal meeting of United Nations Security Council members on Friday on alleged human rights abuses in North Korea.
North Korea’s foreign ministry has denounced the planned meeting as “the most intensive expression” of U.S. “hostile policy” against Pyongyang, and warned it will take “the toughest counteraction.”