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

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches at about 9:30 a.m. from the Ganggye area in the North’s Jagang Province and they flew about 250 kilometres before splashing into the sea. It did not specify the number of missiles fired.

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Tuesday’s launches marked the recalcitrant regime’s second provocation this year, after it fired what it claimed to be a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile on January 6.

Given the flight distance of short-range ballistic missiles, they are usually seen as targeting South Korea.

North Korea also fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on November 5 last year, just hours ahead of the US presidential election.

In a year-end party meeting, North Korea declared it would carry out the ‘toughest’ counteraction strategy toward the United States, claiming military cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan has expanded into a “military bloc for aggression.”

The JCS condemned the latest launch as a ‘blatant’ provocation that threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and vowed to maintain a firm readiness posture against the possibility of North Korea making a ‘wrong judgment.’

“In preparation against additional launches, our military has strengthened our monitoring and vigilance, while closely sharing information on the North Korean missile with the US and Japanese sides and maintaining a full readiness posture,” the JCS said.

The JCS said it is monitoring the possibility of additional missile launches, noting it detected transporter erector launchers for firing missiles near the launch site, Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea’s Acting President Choi Sang-mok denounced North Korea’s latest launch, calling it a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions and pledged a firm response based on the ironclad South Korea-US alliance.