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Japan's defense ministry also reported the launch of what it
said were two ballistic missiles by North Korea, both of which
fell outside its exclusive economic zone.
The launches come amid heightened tensions on the Korean
peninsula as South Korea and the United States take steps to
increase their military readiness against North Korea's weapons
programme with the deployment of U.S. strategic military assets.
North Korea has reacted angrily, saying such a deployment could
meet the criteria for its use of nuclear weapons.
The United States said it was consulting closely with its allies
about the North Korean missile launches, which it described as
being destabilizing.
In a statement on Monday, the U.S. military added the launches
posed no immediate threat to U.S. personnel and territory or to
U.S. allies.
Earlier on Monday, a nuclear-powered U.S. submarine entered a
naval base in South Korea's southern island of Jeju to load
military supplies while on an unspecified operational mission,
the South Korean navy said.
Over the weekend, the North fired a barrage of cruise missiles
into the sea off its west coast.
Last week, North Korea conducted ballistic missile tests after a
nuclear-armed U.S. submarine arrived at a South Korean port for
the first time since the 1980s.
(Reporting by Jack Kim in Seoul, Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo and
Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Alison Williams, Andrew
Heavens and Chris Reese)
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