North Korea fired two apparent ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Saturday morning, the Japanese government and South Korean military said, a day after Seoul severed a key intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo.

The Japanese Defense Ministry said the weapons were "apparently ballistic missiles," adding that the launch did not affect Japan's security and that the missiles did not land in the country's exclusive economic zone.

South Korea's military, reporting the launch after Japan, said the North had fired two "short-range ballistic missiles" at 6:45 a.m. and 7:02 a.m. from the eastern province of South Hamgyong — the seventh time it has launched missiles in less than a month and the ninth since May.