North Korea fires 2 suspected ballistic missiles into sea

SEOUL -- North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles into the sea on Thursday morning, South Korea's military said, while Japan's government said it suspected the weapons were ballistic missiles.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that intelligence authorities in South Korea and the U.S. are thoroughly analyzing the projectiles, fired from northeastern North Korea into the Sea of Japan. The Joint Chiefs had yet to determine whether they were indeed ballistic missiles -- weapons that are initially rocket-propelled and guided but free-fall toward their targets -- which Pyongyang is prohibited from firing under United Nations Security Council resolutions.