The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) reportedly test-fired four ballistic missiles into east waters early Monday as combined forces of South Korea and the United States launched their joint military exercises last week.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea and quoted by local media, four ballistic missiles of uneditified type were fired from an area near Tongchanri-ri in the DPRK's northwest region at about 7:36 a.m. local time (2236 GMT on Sunday).
The missiles reportedly flew about 1,000 kilometers into the eastern waters.
Yoshihide Suga, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary noted three out of the four DPRK ballistic missiles fell into Japan's exclusive economic zone.
It was North Korea's first test-launch of a ballistic missile in 2017 and also the first since US President Donald Trump took office on January 20.
South Korea's military said Pyongyang's launch of ballistic missile was a provocative act in violation of UN Security Council's resolutions, which ban North Korea from testing any ballistic missile technology.
DPRK has not made any comment on the missile launch yet.
