North Korea fired four banned ballistic missiles into Japanese waters on Monday, an act that officials in Seoul and Tokyo said represented a grave threat to their countries' security.
The missiles were launched at about 7:36 a.m. Monday (5:36 p.m. Sunday ET) off North Korea's eastern coast, and traveled about 620 miles, a South Korean military official told NBC News. They landed in the East Sea, which is also called the Sea of Japan, the official added.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said "strong protests" had been lodged with North Korea over the incident
"The launches are clearly in violation of [U.N.] Security Council resolutions. It is an extremely dangerous action," Abe told Japan's parliament.
Some of the missiles landed in waters as close as 190 miles from Japan's northwest coast, Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said.
That falls within the 200-nautical-mile offshore area where Tokyo has sovereign rights for exploring and exploiting resources, known as its exclusive economic zone.
Monday's launch is the third time that North Korean missiles have fallen in Japan's exclusive economic zone since August 2016
Nuclear-armed North Korea said Tuesday March 07,2017 its missile launches were training for a strike on US bases in Japan, as President Trump warned Kim Jong-Un of 'dire consequences' and deployed missiles to South Korea.
The latest declaration from Pyongyang comes the day after it launched four ballistic missiles 600 miles into the Sea of Japan, in an alarming show of strength.
On Tuesday, the regime also released pictures of King Jong-Un watching the launch of the missiles and applauding with a wild grin on his face.
Three of the four missiles fired Monday came down provocatively close to US ally Japan, in waters that are part of its exclusive economic zone, representing a challenge to US President Donald Trump.
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