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\nNorth Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, South Korea\u2019s military said, a day after Pyongyang warned of \u201cfatal consequences\u201d following major joint exercises in the South.
South Korea\u2019s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military had detected two launches, the first at 5:05 am (2005 GMT) and the second around 10 minutes later.
\u201cThe short-range ballistic missile launched at around 05:05 flew approximately 600 km (372 miles),\u201d it said, adding the second one travelled 120 km.
\u201cThe specifications are currently under detailed analysis by South Korean and U.S. authorities,\u201d JCS said in a statement.
\u201cOur military has strengthened surveillance and vigilance in preparation for further launches,\u201d it added.
The launch comes after Pyongyang on Sunday denounced joint military exercises by South Korea, Japan and the United States, calling them an \u201cAsian version of NATO\u201d and warning of \u201cfatal consequences.\u201d
The three-day \u201cFreedom Edge\u201d drills, which ran from Thursday to Saturday last week, included preparation in ballistic missile and air defenses, anti-submarine warfare and defensive cyber training.
They also involved Washington\u2019s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, Tokyo\u2019s guided-missile destroyer JS Atago and Seoul\u2019s KF-16 fighter jet.
Pyongyang has always decried similar combined exercises as rehearsals for an invasion, but Seoul defended the latest exercises, saying they were a continuation of defensive drills held regularly for years.
Last week, North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a multiple warhead missile, but the South said that launch ended in a mid-air explosion.
Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North ramping up weapons testing while bombarding the South with balloons full of trash.
Pyongyang says those missives are in retaliation for balloons loaded with anti-regime propaganda leaflets sent northwards by activists in the South.
In response to the North\u2019s repeated launches, South Korea has fully suspended a tension-reducing military treaty.
It also briefly resumed propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts, and conducted live-fire drills near the border.
South Korea has grown anxious over the North\u2019s warming relations with its isolated neighbor Russia.
North Korea is accused of breaching arms control measures by supplying weapons to Russia to use in its war in Ukraine, and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit with leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang in June in a show of unity.
North Korea is also currently holding a major party meeting, which was opened by leader Kim, state media said Saturday.
\u201cIn both North Korean politics and military policy, the best defense is often a good offense,\u201d said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
\u201cThese missile launches are likely the Kim regime\u2019s way of compensating for recent failed tests, aiming to impress a domestic audience during ruling party meetings.\u201d
\u201cPyongyang is also determined not to appear weak while South Korea conducts defense exercises with Japan and the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n