A rare air raid warning was issued in a remote South Korean island after North Korea launched three ballistic missiles into the sea on Wednesday, including one that landed less than 60 kilometres off the South's coast, Seoul's military said.
The launches came just hours after Pyongyang demanded that the United States and South Korea stop large-scale military exercises, saying such "military rashness and provocation can be no longer tolerated."
The launch was also reported by Japan's Coast Guard.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that it issued an air raid warning for the island of Ulleung around the time of the missile launch.
The JCS said at least one of the missiles landed 26 kilometres south of the Northern Limit Line, a disputed inter-Korean maritime border. The missile landed only 57 kilometres from the South Korean city of Sokcho, on the east coast, and 167 kilometres from Ulleung.
Yonhap news agency quoted an Ulleung County official as saying that employees evacuated to a basement when the warning sounded.
On Monday United States and South Korea began Vigilant Storm, one of their largest combined military air drills, with hundreds of warplanes from both sides staging mock attacks 24 hours a day.
North Korea has test-fired a record number of missiles this year, and has said that a recent flurry of launches were in response to the allied drills.
Reuters
