North Korea fired multiple unidentified cruise missiles on Tuesday into the sea off its west coast, South Korea's military said, the third time Pyongyang has tested cruise missiles in less than a week.
The missiles were launched at around 7 a.m. (2200 GMT on Monday), Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
South Korean and US intelligence authorities were closely monitoring the situation and analyzing the details of the launch, it said.
The launch followed tests on Jan. 24 and Jan. 28 of the Pulhwasal-3-31 cruise missile North Korea says is designed to be fired from submarines.
Following the second launch, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reiterated his goal of building a nuclear-armed navy to counter what he described as growing external threats. It's not yet clear if that water launch Sunday was conducted from an actual submarine or an underwater barge.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years, after Kim accelerated his weapons development to an unprecedented pace while issuing provocative nuclear threats against the United States, South Korea and Japan.
