North Korea launches two projectiles into Sea of Japan

March 29 (UPI) -- North Korea launched two projectiles into the Sea of Japan on Sunday, military officials said.

Japan's Self Defense Force said a missile landed outside of the country's Exclusive Economic Zone, 200 nautical miles from the country's shores.

"It is a serious issue for the whole international society including Japan that North Korea has repeatedly launched missiles lately," the force said. "We continue to put the utmost effort to collect and analyze information and vigilance to protect the life and property of Japanese citizens."

The Korean military command said the projectiles were suspected to be short-range ballistic missiles fired northeast from the Wonsan area to the sea at about 6:10 a.m.

South Korea's Joint Chief of Staff described the launch as "totally inappropriate behavior" as the world faces the COVID-19 pandemic.

"SK and the U.S. intelligence offices are jointly working on further the analysis," the chief of staff said.

Last week, North Korea fired two projectiles presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea.

The recent series of missile launches began at the beginning of this month after months of hiatus as North Korea fired at least three short-range projectiles believed to have come from a super-large multiple rocket launcher, a week after launching two short-range projectiles of the same type.