North Korea launched suspected multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, in a provocation staged just days before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

North Korea launched "several short-range ballistic missiles," that landed in the Sea of Japan Tuesday morning local time, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on Tuesday morning. The launch is the second of the year for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which last did a missile test on Jan. 6, when Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul, South Korea . Tuesday’s rocket launch was first reported by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Kim Jong Un described the missile test as a crucial achievement in his goals to bolster North Korea's nuclear deterrence. Lee Sung Joon, Spokesperson of South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, downplayed the test,

North Korea last fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew more than 680 miles from the Pyongyang area before splashing down in the Sea of Japan on Jan. 6.

South Korea’s military says North Korea has test-fired multiple missiles toward its eastern waters in its second launch event of 2025

The United States on Tuesday condemned North Korea's ballistic missile launches this week as a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions, and repeated calls for the recalcitrant regime to return to dialogue.

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday didn’t immediately confirm how many missiles were fired or how far they flew.

North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Tuesday, in its latest show of force a week before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that the missiles flew approximately 250 kilometers after being launched at around 9:30 a.

North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on Monday, South Korea's military said, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul amid a political crisis in the country.

The latest missile test coincided with Takeshi Iwaya’s visit, the first by a Japanese foreign minister in seven years, to Seoul for talks on trilateral cooperation with the US. Mr Iwaya met his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae Yul on Monday. He condemned the North’s nuclear and missile development, and pledged to boost security ties with Seoul.

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, marking Pyongyang's latest show of force just days ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to office.