North Korea fires two cruise missiles toward Yellow Sea

North Korea fired two cruise missiles toward the Yellow Sea early Wednesday, just ahead of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's press conference marking his 100th day in office.

A passenger at Seoul Station in central Seoul watches a news broadcast about apparent short-range ballistic missiles fired by North Korea on Jan. 27. [YONHAP]

North Korea fired two cruise missiles toward the Yellow Sea early Wednesday, just ahead of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's press conference marking his 100th day in office.

"[The military] has detected two cruise missiles launched by North Korea from Onchon, South Pyongan Province, into the Yellow Sea early this morning," said a Korean military official on Wednesday.

The firing of the missile comes two days after Yoon shared his initiative to help support the North if it decides to take steps toward denuclearization, during his speech at the Liberation Day event on Aug. 15.

The missiles also come a day after Korea and the United States began preliminary training for full joint exercises between the two countries’ militaries next week.

This is the second time this year that North Korea fired a cruise missile, the first of which was in January.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]