
North Korea has fired five ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, according to South Korea and Japan. Sunday's incident marked the seventh ballistic missile launch by North Korea this year and the fourth in April.
The missiles were launched near the city of Sinpo on North Korea's east coast at around 6:10 a.m. Sunday, South Korea's military said in a statement. It added that South Korea had strengthened its surveillance posture and was closely sharing information with the United States and Japan.
The Japanese government posted on social media that the ballistic missiles were believed to have landed near the east coast of the Korean Peninsula. There was no confirmation of any incursion into Japan's exclusive economic zone.
South Korea's presidential office said it had held an emergency security meeting, according to media reports.
Such tests violate United Nations Security Council resolutions against North Korea's missile program. The isolated country rejects the UN ban and says it violates its sovereign right to self-defense.
The releases come as China and the US prepare for a summit in mid-May, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, are expected to discuss North Korea.
North Korea has made "very serious" advances in its ability to produce nuclear weapons, with the possible addition of a new uranium enrichment plant, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said on Wednesday.
Late last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country's status as a nuclear-armed state was irreversible and that expanding a "self-defensive nuclear force" was essential for national security.