South Korea's Defense Ministry said the military detected the missiles fired from Sondok, an eastern coastal region of North Korea, NBC News reports. Seoul and Washington remained ready to respond to any provocation, the ministry said.

The launch came hours after Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, ruled out talks with Washington until it drops what she called its hostile policy, NBC reports. She also repeated North Korea's denial that it was behind the hack of crypto exchange Binance, NBC says.

North Korean state media reported on Tuesday a test of a cruise missile fitted with what it described as a strategic dispersal warhead, The Independent reports.

The launch follows a landmine explosion near the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas, the paper says.

North Korea's frequent tests this year suggest it may be nearing mass production, possibly including weapons for export to Russia, missile expert Lee Choon-geun said, NBC reports.

North Korean media also reported that Kim visited a naval shipyard building a destroyer, NBC says.

This year's tests include a missile that flew more than 550 miles, NBC reports. The North has also tested hypersonic missiles, NBC says.

The North fired around a dozen short-range ballistic missiles on October 29, The Independent reports. Kim attended that event at a drone technology show, the paper says.

“Before mass production and deployment, you typically need many tests,” Lee said, NBC reports.

What we know: North Korea fired multiple missiles from Sondok toward the sea on Wednesday.
What we don't: What type of missiles were fired and how far they flew.