The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) said that North Korea appears to have fired one long-range and two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday morning.

The first launch prompted Japan to issue an alert urging its residents in Miyagi, Yamagata, and Niigata prefectures to take shelter inside a building or underground.

Tokyo issued the order saying that the missile flew over Japanese territory, but the Japanese defense ministry later said that the missile fired by the North at 7:48 a.m. did not fly over Japan.

Japanese media outlets reported that North Korea fired three projectiles  presumed to be ballistic missiles on Thursday morning.

Analyses of the launches by South Korea and the U.S. are ongoing.

The launches on Thursday come a mere day after the North fired more than 20 ballistic missiles and 100 artillery shells, an apparent protest against the large-scale Vigilant Storm air drills between South Korea and the U.S. running from Monday to Friday.