North Korea fired four short-range projectiles into the Sea of Japan Monday, South Korean officials said.
The launches were first reported by the Yonhap News Agency. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that the projectiles were launched from the city of Hamhung, in northeastern North Korea, and traveled approximately 125 miles before landing in the water.
The latest launches appeared to be part of North Korea's ongoing response to ongoing South Korea-U.S. military drills it sees as a provocation and a rehearsal for an invasion. This year's drills are the largest ever, and come after the North's nuclear test and long-range rocket launch earlier this year.
On Friday, North Korea claimed that it had launched two medium-range ballistic missiles capable of striking Japan, the first such launches since 2014. However, U.S. officials later told Fox News that one of the missiles blew up shortly after lift-off. Despite that embarrassment, the fact that the other missile traveled hundreds of miles marked a dangerous escalation of North Korea's missile program.
Earlier Monday, Yonhap reported that the South Korean government had warned that North Korea was capable of conducting a fifth nuclear test at any time.
Last week, President Obama signed new sanctions targeting North Korea's coal industry, which some analysts suspect fuels its missile program. An earlier sanctions bill signed by Obama targeted luxury goods consumed by North Korea's elite.
Also last week, North Korea sentenced a 21-year old American college student from the University of Virginia to 15 years of hard labor in a prison camp for allegedly steal a banner while in the communist country.
Earlier this month, North Korea fired several short-range missiles and artillery shells into the sea and threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Washington and Seoul.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently ordered tests of a nuclear warhead explosion and ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
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