[Breaking] North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles: JCS

North Korea on Tuesday launched several short-range ballistic missiles into sea east of the Korean Peninsula a day before the US presidential election, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The missiles were fired at around 7:30 a.m. from a province south of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, the JCS said. Other details are still being analyzed.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister Kim Yo-jong on Monday slammed the US flying B-1B bomber in a trilateral air drill with South Korean and Japan near the Korean Peninsula.

She said in a statement carried by the state official news agency that the air training was “most hostile and invasive actions” that “serve as a justification” for expanding the country’s nuclear program.

North Korea last fired a ballistic missile on Oct. 31 when it tested what is suspected to be a new intercontinental ballistic missile. The ICBM flew higher and longer than any North Korean missile in the past.

South Korean military and intelligence officials warned last week signs of North Korea preparing to stage a large-scale provocation such as a nuclear test or an ICBM firing around the time of the US election.