North Korea launched four short-range missiles off its south-easterly coast on Thursday, South Korean defense ministry officials told Yonhap News.

“The projectiles were fired from the Gitdaeryeong area on the North’s southeastern coast toward the waters beginning at 5:42 p.m,” an official from the South Korean Defense Ministry was quoted as saying.

A later bulletin attributed to a “S. Korean source” suggested the missiles could have been Scud  type short-range ballistic missiles.

Thursday’s launches, which are not unprecedented, coincided with the third day of annual U.S. – South Korea joint military drills, and are likely intended as a message to