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N. Korea Fires Rockets as Joint US-South Korean Maneuvers Start


FILE - A North Korean People’s Army naval unit tests a new type of anti-ship cruise missile in this undated photo released by the Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang, Feb. 7, 2015.
FILE - A North Korean People’s Army naval unit tests a new type of anti-ship cruise missile in this undated photo released by the Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang, Feb. 7, 2015.

Authorities say North Korea has fired two short-range missiles into the East Sea, in an apparent protest against joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises launched elsewhere in the region Monday.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quotes officials as saying the missiles fell into the East Sea 490 kilometers from the North Korean port city of Nampo.

South Korea says its military "remains vigilant against any additional launches" as it maintains "the readiness posture."

North Korea has long demanded that Washington and Seoul stop the annual military drills, which Pyongyang has called "a dress rehearsal for a northward invasion."

Pyongyang routinely uses missile tests and artillery fire to protest the joint military maneuvers. It also has used such launches, as well as three nuclear tests in recent years, to defy international critics and push back against United Nations sanctions levied against the North for its ballistic missile launches.

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