SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired multiple unidentified ballistic missiles off its west coast on Monday, South Korea’s military said, as the United States and South Korea kicked off annual joint military drills.
The missiles were fired towards the sea off the west coast at around 1:50 p.m. (0450 GMT), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a text message sent to reporters.
The South Korean military has ramped up surveillance and vigilance, it said.
North Korean state media has criticised the annual joint military drills by the United States and South Korea that began on Monday, saying they would worsen the situation on the Korean peninsula.
The joint military exercises called Freedom Shield are due to run until March 20 and are aimed at strengthening readiness for threats such as North Korea, JCS has said previously.
(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Ed Davies)
