Amidst United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to South Korea, North Korea has fired short-range ballistic missiles towards its eastern waters, according to officials.

The US Joint Chiefs of Staff reported on Monday that North Korea launched an unspecified ballistic missile towards the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.

Japan's Coast Guard confirmed the launches, noting that the objects seemed to have already fallen.

These missile launches occurred shortly after the conclusion of 11 days of joint military drills between the US and South Korea, known as Freedom Shield exercises. North Korea has consistently criticized these drills, labeling them as preparations for invasion.

Earlier this month, Pyongyang issued a warning, stating that Seoul and Washington would face consequences for this year's Freedom Shield drills, which involved a larger number of troops compared to the previous year.

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Approximately 27,000 US soldiers are stationed in South Korea, where the drills were conducted.

Monday's missile test is the latest in a series of weapon demonstrations by North Korea this year, including a missile equipped with a manoeuvrable hypersonic warhead on January 14.

Democracy Summit

Following the missile launches, Antony Blinken and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol inaugurated the Summit for Democracy in South Korea. The summit, hosted by South Korea this year, focuses on discussions about technology's role in promoting and undermining democracy.

Blinken emphasized the importance of technology in both fostering and threatening democracy, particularly in light of recent developments such as the passage of a bill in the US House of Representatives targeting the popular social media app TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance.

The Summit for Democracy, an initiative spearheaded by US President Joe Biden, has faced criticism in previous years due to its selective invitation policy, which reportedly excludes countries like Thailand and Turkey.