N. Korea test-fires ballistic missiles in defiance of US-South Korean war games.

N. Korea test-fires ballistic missiles in defiance of US-South Korean war games.(CN)

North Korea on Wednesday test-fired two medium-range ballistic missiles, South Korea said, a defiant challenge to a meeting by the leaders of rivals South Korea, Japan and the United States that focused on the North's security threat.

The launch of what are believed to be Rodong missiles would be a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and marks a big escalation from a series of shorter-range rocket launches the North has staged in recent weeks to protest ongoing annual military drills by Washington and Seoul that the North claims are invasion preparation.

It would be the North's first launch of this type of missile since 2009, said South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok.

Kim told reporters that that the missiles flew about 650 kilometers (403 miles) off North Korea's east coast early Wednesday morning. It wasn't immediately clear where the missiles splashed down. Kim said the missiles were likely fired from a mobile launcher.

The North's arsenal of an estimated 300 Rodong missiles could in theory be fitted with nuclear warheads -- once Pyongyang masters the ability to miniaturize atomic bombs -- and, with a range of up to 1,300 kilometers (800 miles), could reach Tokyo and key U.S. military bases in Japan.Read the full story here.