North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missile launches took place between 7 a.m. and 7:11 a.m. on February 20. The missiles flew approximately 390 km and 340 km, respectively.

Hours after the missile launch, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed that the Korean People's Army's artillery unit test-fired two missiles from a 600mm multiple rocket launcher during a drill, hitting targets 395km and 337km away, respectively.

In a message to reporters, the JCS stated that the South Korean military strongly condemned North Korea's latest missile launches, calling them "serious provocations" that harm peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the international community. South Korea considered the missile launches a "clear" violation of UN Security Council resolutions and called on North Korea to immediately stop similar provocations.

"Our military will ensure a solid response capability based on security cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan, and maintain a readiness posture based on the ability to overwhelmingly retaliate against any North Korean provocations," the JCS affirmed.

On the morning of February 20, the South Korean Presidential Office convened an emergency meeting to discuss the security situation following North Korea's short-range ballistic missile launch earlier that day.

At the meeting, National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han briefly informed about North Korea's missile launch and affirmed that the South Korean military is ready to respond to any scenario while before South Korean officials discussed how to respond.

North Korea's recent missile launches came as South Korea and the United States kicked off joint military exercises on February 19 involving at least one B-1B strategic bomber. The latest launch came just two days after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile.

According to Yonhap news agency, on February 20, the South Korean government decided to impose additional sanctions on North Korea, related to the launch of a long-range ballistic missile and the latest firing of two short-range ballistic missiles by Pyongyang on the same morning.

The new sanctions were imposed on four individuals and five organizations linked to North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs or helping Pyongyang "evade" sanctions, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

On the morning of February 20, the Japanese Ministry of Defense informed the country's coast guard about North Korea's missile launches. NHK news agency quoted several sources from the Japanese government as saying that North Korea's missiles appeared to have fallen outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. Currently, Japanese authorities are gathering information about these North Korea's missile launches./.

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