UPDATE - North Korea fires 2 missiles, slams rival drills as ‘Asian NATO’

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS FROM SOUTH KOREA; ADDS STATEMENT BY NORTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTRY; CHANGES HEADER, DECK, LEDE; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - North Korea launched at least two suspected ballistic missiles early Monday, local time, and also condemned the joint drills by the US, Japan, and South Korea as the “Asian version of NATO.”

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) claimed that the missiles were launched toward the northeast, and one of the “launches possibly failed and the missile landed inside the country,” Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

The waters east of Koreas is also referred to as the Sea of Japan.

“One short-range ballistic missile was launched” from the Jangyon area in the southern Hwanghae province at around 05.05 a.m. (2010GMT) which flew about 600 kilometers (372 miles), landing in waters off North Korea’s northeastern city of Chongjin, the JCS said about the latest missile launch.

It added that the second ballistic missile was “launched from the same area at around 5.15 a.m. (2015GMT) and flew only about 120 kilometers (74 miles).”

Pyongyang launched a similar missile last Wednesday, calling it a "successful" test involving a missile with multiple warheads.

​​​​​​​The launch of the suspected missiles comes two days after South Korea, the US, and Japan concluded the three-day all-domain military exercises on the Korean Peninsula.

Pyongyang condemned the trilateral drill as the “Asian NATO,” and vowed to protect its sovereignty.

“The US is now claiming that the US-Japan-ROK (South Korea) relations are just cooperative ones for strengthening regional stability and security and do not mean NATO of Asian version, but it is nothing but rhetoric to evade international criticism of the formation of an aggressive bloc,” said a statement released by the external policy office of the North Korean Foreign Ministry.

The first “all-domain” trilateral drills, known as the Freedom Edge, by Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo were held in the waters near North Korea on June 27-29, it added.

“We will continue to make important efforts to deter the acts of disturbing peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and the rest of the world,” it also said.