North Korea has launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired from the Sinpo area and travelled about 140 kilometres towards the eastern waters. It added that South Korea is maintaining readiness to respond to any provocation and is closely coordinating with the United States and Japan.

The development comes days after the UN’s nuclear watchdog warned that Pyongyang is making “very serious” progress in its nuclear weapons programme. In an emergency National Security Council meeting, senior South Korean officials expressed concern over the repeated missile tests and urged North Korea to halt such actions immediately. The United States and Japan also confirmed detecting the launches.