Seoul/Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)--North Korea fired some 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Thursday, the South Korean military's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

A Japanese Defense Ministry official said the missiles are believed to have fallen into waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ordered her government to collect and analyze related information.

It was the first ballistic missile launch by North Korea since Oct. 12. The country's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported at the time that Pyongyang test-fired a tactical ballistic missile.

North Korea has been hardening its stance against the South since tensions between the two Koreas increased following a mine explosion near the military demarcation line in September that injured South Korean troops.

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The national flag of North Korea

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]