North fires three short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea Thursday

People watch a TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea's missile launch with file footage, at a train station in Seoul on Thursday. [AP/YONHAP]

North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday evening, marking its first missile launch since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration in the South, said the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea from the Sunan area of Pyongyang around 6:29 p.m.,” said South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday.

The missiles were estimated to have flown about 350 kilometers (217 miles) with a maximum altitude of around 100 kilometers, according to Japan's Defense Ministry.

The latest launch comes just five days after the North fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile, which was preceded by another ballistic missile test just four days earlier.

Pyongyang has been ramping up its weapons tests, totaling 16 since the start of year, including an intercontinental ballistic missile launch on March 24, also from the Sunan area in Pyongyang.

Yoon's National Security Office immediately condemned the launch on Thursday.

“We strongly condemn provocative acts that heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia and seriously threaten international peace and security,” the office said in a statement. “The government will continue close cooperation with the international community while maintaining a tight readiness posture. Rather than responding to North Korea’s provocations, we will take practical and stern measures through an objective evaluation of the security situation.”

The missile launches came on the same day that North Korea announced its first Covid-19 cases.

Foreign Minister Park Jin said that while the North should be “strongly urged” by the international community to stop its provocations, humanitarian aid for its people should not be ruled out.

“North Korea is currently implementing an emergency quarantine system due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus,” Park told the press after visiting the Seoul National Cemetery on Friday. “Knowing this, I think it is necessary to closely monitor the situation and consider what kind of humanitarian aid we can provide at the government level.”

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]