North Korea launches three ballistic missiles, claims South Korea amid visit of Antony Blinken to Seoul

The firing was done by North Korea at a time when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in South Korea for a multilateral ministerial conference.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told Yonhap news agency that it detected the missile launches in the area of Pyongyang between 7:44 a.m. and 8:22 a.m., which flew around 300 kilometers and landed in the East Sea.

"North Korea fired at least three missiles, and their trajectories were similar to those of KN-24," a senior military official said.

According to South Korea media, the KN-24 is a solid-fuel ballistic missile with a range of up to 410 km and a payload of 400-500 kg.

The South Korean military told Yonhap it immediately detected and tracked the missiles, and shared the information with the US and Japanese authorities, while a comprehensive analysis is underway.

"We strongly condemn North Korea's latest missile launch, which is a clear provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the JCS said.

The latest missile was launched just a month after North Korea fired a new surface-to-sea cruise missile named Padasuri-6 from its east coast on February 14.