South Korea's military says North Korea has fired several ballistic missiles into the sea. The launch Monday happened hours after South Korean and U.S. troops kicked off their large annual combined drills,

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on Monday, hours after condemning the South Korean and U.S. militaries for launching drills that Pyongyang called a "dangerous provocative act" that risked accidentally sparking a confrontation.

North Korea has traditionally called for US-South Korea joint exercises to be called off, branding them as a prelude to invasion. The South Korean military has said the joint drills aim to strengthen the readiness of the alliance for threats such as North Korea.