Seoul: North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Tuesday, as confirmed by South Korea's military, in a provocative move just days before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported that the launch was detected around 9:30 a.m. from the Ganggye area in North Korea's Jagang Province, with the missiles traveling approximately 250 kilometers before landing in the sea. The JCS did not specify the number of missiles fired.

According to Yonhap News Agency, this missile launch is North Korea's second provocation this year, following the firing of a missile claimed to be a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile on January 6. The short-range ballistic missiles, given their flight distance, are typically perceived as targeting South Korea. This mirrors an incident from November 5 of last year, when North Korea fired multiple short-range missiles just hours ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

During a year-end party meeting, North Korea announced its intent to implement the "toughest" counteraction strategy against the United States, accusing the military cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan of evolving into a "military bloc for aggression." The JCS condemned the recent launch as a "blatant" act of provocation that endangers peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and committed to maintaining a strong readiness posture to prevent North Korea from making a "wrong judgment."

The JCS stated that in anticipation of further launches, the South Korean military has enhanced its monitoring and vigilance, while actively sharing information on the North Korean missile activities with U.S. and Japanese counterparts to maintain full readiness. Additionally, they noted the detection of transporter erector launchers near the launch site, suggesting the potential for more missile launches.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok strongly criticized North Korea's actions, labeling the launch as a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. He pledged a robust response rooted in the steadfast South Korea-U.S. alliance.