North Korea launches another missile toward sea ahead of US-South Korean military drills

North Korea performs its second ballistic missile test in less than a week, its neighbors say, a likely protest of the upcoming South Korea-US military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says a ballistic missile fired from the North’s eastern coastal Wonsan area around 6 a.m. flew more than 700 kilometers (435 miles). The Japanese Defense Ministry also detected the launch, saying the weapon landed in waters outside its exclusive economic zone, between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

The launches, within days of each other, are seen as part of North Korea’s extended run of weapons tests as the country has refused to return to talks with the US and South Korea for years. Experts say North Korea often uses its rivals’ military training as a pretext to boost its own testing activities.

South Korea’s military says it remains ready to repel any provocation by Pyongyang in cooperation with the United States. South Korea’s national security council calls North Korean ballistic missile launches “acts of provocation” and urges the North to halt them immediately.

The latest launch comes two days after South Korea and the United States announced they will kick off their annual large-scale military drills on Aug. 17 to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.