(ATTN: UPDATES with details in paras 5-6)

SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, South Korea's military said.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the missile launch from Pyongyang at around 5 p.m. Further details were not immediately available.

The military has stepped up surveillance and vigilance for possible additional launches while closely sharing related information with the United States and Japan as they maintain a full readiness posture, the JCS said.

The latest launch took place about a week after Pyongyang fired a short-range ballistic missile eastward on Aug. 12.

Following the launch, the presidential national security office said it convened a meeting attended by officials from the defense ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to review South Korea's response and assess the move's impact on national security.

"With the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise currently under way, the office stressed the need to maintain a thorough readiness posture," it said, urging Pyongyang to halt such provocations in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The missile launch came as South Korea and the United States are conducting their combined military exercise this week, the duration and scope of which have been scaled down following U.S. President Donald Trump's order to reduce the drills.

Pyongyang has strongly denounced the drills as rehearsals for invasion and typically responded with a series of weapons tests in protest.

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said in a statement late Wednesday that the North has no interest in the reduction of the allies' military exercise, calling it "unworthy of comment."

elly@yna.co.kr

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