(Last updated at 4:30 p.m. KST with Navy’s statement on trilateral drills)

North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Thursday morning, according to the South Korean military, the country’s sixth missile test event in the last two weeks. 

Pyongyang has not reported directly on the latest launch, but the DPRK foreign ministry implied its recent missile tests were a “justified countermeasure” against joint U.S.-South Korean military drills in a statement released by state media just before Thursday’s launch.

The foreign ministry said the drills “escalate military tensions” and that “the U.S. is posing a serious