UPDATE - North Korea fires ballistic missiles into Sea of Japan: Japanese government

ADDS MORE DETAILS, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) - North Korea fired several ballistic missiles Thursday, which are believed to have landed outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone in the Sea of Japan, with no damage reported to aircraft or vessels, according to the Japanese government.

The Defense Ministry said the missiles were launched from North Korea's west coast between 7.10 a.m. and 7.14 a.m. (2210GMT and 2214GMT Wednesday), with at least two reaching over 350 kilometers (217.5 miles) and a maximum altitude of about 100 kilometers (62 miles) before falling off the Korean Peninsula's east coast, Kyodo News reported.

Tokyo has lodged a strong protest with Pyongyang over the missile tests, the first since July 1.

Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara criticized the launches as a "clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions" and deemed them "totally unacceptable."

The South Korean military confirmed that North Korea launched short-range ballistic missiles from near Pyongyang toward the Sea of Japan, traveling approximately 360 kilometers (223 miles).

Senior officials from Japan, the US and South Korea condemned the launches and reaffirmed their trilateral cooperation during phone calls, the Japanese Foreign Ministry reported.

The launches followed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's pledge on Monday to significantly increase the country's nuclear arsenal, according to state media.

The missiles were fired just before the start of official campaigning for Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party leadership election to choose a successor to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.