The projectiles were reportedly launched eastward from the coastal city of Wonsan, Kangwon Province, into the Sea of Japan. Numerous missile tests in the past few months have followed a similar pattern. Past tests have featured a variety of short-range weapons, including rocket artillery and a short-range ballistic missile. The last such test was on September 10.
"Our military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture," the JCS said in a statement, Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported.
The Japanese Defense Ministry has also confirmed they are tracking the missiles and that they pose no threat to Japan, either, NHK reported. However, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga noted one of the projectiles landed in the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near the country's western Shimane Prefecture, at 7:27 a.m., Reuters reported. The other landed a few minutes earlier outside the EEZ. A country's EEZ extends 200 miles into the sea from its coast and is not equivalent to a country's territorial waters, which only extend 12 nautical miles from shore.
A US emergency alert from Guam, the closest US territory to the DPRK, albeit still 2,000 miles away, noted the projectile was being watched by "federal and military agencies," but posed no threat to the island.
The launch comes just hours after North Korean First Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son Hui and US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus independently confirmed the two countries would resume denuclearization talks this weekend, following a seven-month hiatus.
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