North Korea Monday fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, the latest in a series of weapons tests in recent weeks, the South Korean military said.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said, "Our armed forces detected two short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Jonghwa area in North Hwanghae Province (south-central) at 07:47 (22:47 GMT) towards the East Sea," the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

Each of the two missiles traveled about 370 kilometers, according to the same source, who added that the matter constitutes "a dangerous provocation that affects the peace and stability of the international community and the Korean peninsula."

"Our military has increased surveillance and vigilance in the face of new launches, while maintaining its full readiness thanks to the close cooperation between South Korea and the United States," she added.

For its part, the Japanese Ministry of Defense confirmed the launch of the two missiles. Japanese media quoted ministry officials as believing that the two missiles flew in an irregular trajectory before falling outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
This comes at a time when Seoul and Washington are conducting joint amphibious landing exercises, and only days after they completed Thursday their largest joint military exercises in five years.

And the South Korean Ministry of Defense announced that the US aircraft carrier "Nimitz" arrived Tuesday in the coastal city of Busan in southern South Korea to enhance the joint defense deployment.

An official at the ministry said in a press statement that this naval exercise "aims to enhance extended deterrence by deploying US strategic capabilities in the face of North Korea's growing nuclear and ballistic threats."

North Korean state media said on Friday that the joint exercises between Seoul and Washington constitute preparation for the "occupation" of North Korea, which in turn requires "stronger deterrent means" to respond to, especially "a more advanced, diversified and more offensive nuclear attack capability."

The North Korean military conducted its own military exercises, including testing what it described as a "nuclear attack-capable submarine" and its second ICBM launch this year.

Analysts had expected that North Korea would use the exercises between Seoul and Washington as a pretext to conduct new missile launches or even a nuclear test.

And North Korea's official news agency reported on Friday that the exercises on the "submarine capable of launching a nuclear attack," which was personally supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, aimed at "warning the enemy of a real nuclear crisis."

She added that the mission of this weapon "is to infiltrate operational waters by stealth and cause a large-scale radioactive tsunami (...) to destroy the enemy's naval units and main ports of operations."

Also, the agency stated that Pyongyang launched Wednesday strategic cruise missiles "equipped with an experimental warhead that simulates a nuclear warhead."

Analysts questioned North Korea's allegations, but pointed out that it is no longer satisfied with stockpiling nuclear warheads , but is trying to improve and diversify the means of launch.

Seoul and Washington have stepped up security cooperation after a year of record number of weapons tests and growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang in 2022.

Also, North Korean military provocations have prompted Seoul and Tokyo to transcend their historical differences and try to enhance their defense cooperation.

Last year, North Korea declared its status as a nuclear power "irreversible". Kim recently called for a "massive" increase in weapons production, including tactical nuclear weapons.

In early March, he also ordered his army to intensify its military maneuvers, in preparation for a "real war."