Seoul, March 2 (TIWN) North Korea on Monday fired two unidentified short-range projectiles into the East Sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, the first such launches since it warned of "a new strategic weapon" earlier this year.

The launch was the nuclear-armed North’s first for more than three months and came as nuclear negotiations with the United States remain at a standstill.  The two devices were fired eastward over the sea from the Wonsan area on the east coast and flew 240 kilometers (150 miles) at a maximum altitude of 35 kilometers, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.  They were “believed to be short-range ballistic missiles,” a JCS official said.  South Korea’s security ministers expressed “strong concern” the North was “carrying out actions giving rise to military tensions,” the presidential Blue House said.