North Korea fired 2 suspected ballistic missiles off east coast, Japan and South Korea say

North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Sunday, said both South Korea and Japan.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch of the first missile about 3 pm (0600GMT) from the Wonsan area, on the country's east coast, according to Yonhap news.

The missile flew about 450 kilometers (279 miles), with further analysis underway to assess its exact specifications and other details, it added.

Hours later, the joint chiefs of staff said Pyongyang fired a second missile that flew more than 600 km (372 mi).

South Korean and US intelligence authorities tracked and shared related details from the initial stage of the launch, and shared information on the missile launch with Japan as well, it added.

"We are closely monitoring North Korea's various activities and maintain the capability and readiness to overwhelmingly respond to any provocations, under the staunch South Korea-US combined defense posture," it further said.

Japan said the projectile is believed to have fallen outside its exclusive economic zone, Kyodo News reported.

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters that Tokyo "strongly condemns" the launch, which violates relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Pyongyang last week condemned a US-led naval drill including South Korea and Japan, which ran from Aug. 29 to Sept. 10 near the island of Guam. It did not immediately respond to the latest claims.