North Korea fires cruise missiles into Yellow Sea: South Korean military

South Korean media reported Wednesday that North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea, days after conducting two separate weapons tests.

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the launches occurred around 7 a.m., without providing further details. Yonhap reported.

“As we strengthen our oversight and surveillance, our military has been coordinating closely with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korean provocations,” the JCS said in a statement cited by Yonhap.

The launch is the first of its kind since September 2023, when Pyongyang fired two long-range strategic cruise missiles with simulated nuclear warheads toward the same area.

The multiple launches come days after Kim Jong-un's forces fired a solid-fueled, intermediate-range ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic warhead into the East Sea, the first this year.

north korean media KCNA reported last week that Pyongyang had tested an “underwater nuclear weapons system” in response to joint naval exercises by the United States, South Korea and Japan.

The exercises “severely threatened the security” of the North, so in response, Pyongyang carried out a major test of its Haeil-5-23 underwater nuclear weapons system, which is being developed in the East Korean Sea,” the spokesperson said. KCNA reported.

Early last year, Pyongyang carried out multiple tests of a suspected underwater nuclear attack drone, claiming it could trigger a radioactive tsunami.

Recent months have seen a sharp deterioration in tense ties between the two Koreas, with both sides scrapping key agreements to reduce tension, increasing border security and conducting live-fire drills along the border.

Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared the South his country's main enemy, scrapped agencies dedicated to reunification and extension and threatened war over even 0.001 mm of territorial infringement.