SEOUL: North Korea fired several cruise missiles toward the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, the South Korean military said.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the North's launch took place around 7 a.m., but did not elaborate, citing an ongoing analysis, Yonhap news agency reported.

"While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military has been closely coordinating with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korea's provocations," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

It marks North Korea's first cruise missile launch since September 2023, when it test-fired two long-range strategic cruise missiles with mock nuclear warheads toward the Yellow Sea.

The latest launch comes 10 days after Pyongyang test-fired a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic warhead into the East Sea in its first missile launch this year.