North Korea fires two short-range ballistic missiles, Seoul says

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea's military said Thursday, shortly after Pyongyang warned of an "inevitable" response to ongoing US-South Korea joint military drills.

South Korea and the United States, which have ramped up defence cooperation in response to growing threats from the nuclear-armed North, are currently carrying out their latest large-scale joint military drills, live-fire "annihilation" exercises.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had detected the launch of "two short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunan area into the East Sea between 19:25 and 19:37 (1025 to 1037 GMT)," referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

"We have stepped up monitoring in case of further provocations and are maintaining readiness in close coordination with the United States," it added.

Tokyo also confirmed the launch, with a defence ministry official telling reporters that the two missiles had landed in waters within Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with diplomacy stalled and the North's leader Kim Jong Un declaring his country an "irreversible" nuclear power, as well as calling for ramped-up weapons production, including of tactical nukes.

Nuclear-armed North Korea has conducted multiple sanctions-busting launches this year, including test-firing its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles, and last month attempting to put a military spy satellite into orbit.