North Korea's missile launches may be aimed at protesting South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday it caught North Korea firing multiple missiles from the inland Hwanghae Province toward the western sea at around 1:50 p.m., with the missiles flying 60 to 100 kilometers.

On the same day, the ROK and the US officially launched the annual routine joint military exercise code-named "Freedom Shield".

The analysis pointed out that the DPRK's firing on the same day was intended to test the Trump administration's DPRK-related policy, or it may be a protest against the joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States.

Earlier Monday, North Korea slammed the South Korea-US drills as a "provocative act." "This is a dangerous provocation that raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and could trigger an armed clash between the two sides through an accidental shot," the North's foreign ministry said, according to KCNA.