North Korea fires projectiles twice into sea, South Korea says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military says North Korea fired unidentified projectiles twice into the sea as it continues to ramp up weapons tests amid stalemated nuclear negotiations with the United States.

The launches on Tuesday came a day after the U.S. and South Korean militaries started scaled-down joint military exercises despite warnings from the North that the drills could derail fragile nuclear diplomacy.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says the projectiles were launched from an area near the North’s western coast and flew cross-country before landing in waters off the country’s eastern coast.

It didn’t immediately say how far the projectiles flew. The North last week conducted two test-firings of what it described as a new rocket artillery system and conducted a short-range ballistic missile launch on July 25.