North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles as South Korea, US launch joint military drills

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from an area near the western county of Hwangju in North Hwanghae Province at around 1.50 p.m., noting that it may have involved close-range ballistic missiles (CRBMs) or ballistic missiles that have a relatively short range of less than 300 kilometres.

Under UN Security Council Resolutions, North Korea is barred from staging any launches that use ballistic missile technology.

The JCS said it has bolstered surveillance and maintained a full readiness posture under close cooperation with the United States.

South Korea and the US launched their annual Freedom Shield exercise on Monday for an 11-day run.

North Korea has long denounced the allies' joint exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion against it and has a track record of staging weapons tests in response.

It released back-to-back statements denouncing the latest joint drills, threatening that Seoul and Washington will pay a "horrible" price for their "dangerous provocative act."

Earlier Monday, the North's Foreign Ministry denounced the allies' exercise as a "dangerous provocative act," saying it would result in an "aggravated security crisis."

South Korea and the US have rejected accusations of invasion rehearsals, describing their joint drills as defensive in nature, Yonhap news agency reported.

The North last fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on January 14.

Last week, Pyongyang slammed the United States for "political and military provocations" over the visit of a US Navy aircraft carrier to the South Korean port of Busan.

Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have been at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.