Japan is denouncing North Korea's firing of three ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan Monday.
The missiles were fired from the North's Hwanghae province, located on the country's eastern coast. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staffs have indentified the missiles as Rodong missiles, which have a range of 1,000 kilometers.
Japan's defense ministry says the rockets fell into its Exclusive Economic Zone in the region, which is known in Korea as the East Sea.
Monday's missile firings come as world leaders met in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou for the two-day G-20 summit of advanced and emerging economies.
"This launch is a clear act of provocation not only to our country, but to the international community considering the timing of its launch coinciding with the G20 summit held in China's Guangzhou today," said Japanese cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga.
A U.S. official attending the summit condemned North Korea's actions, calling the missile launches a threat to both aircraft and maritime vessels operating in the region.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the summit just hours before the missile launches.
According to Yonhap, President Park warned the Chinese leader that Pyongyang's increasing provocations, including a series of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests, have "seriously undermined peace in this region and posed a challenge" to Seoul-Beijing relations.
Meanwhile, China's Xinhua news agency says President Xi told his South Korean counterpart that Beijing opposes deployment of the U.S.-built THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) anti-missile system in South Korea. Seoul says the THAAD system is aimed at countering possible missile attacks from North Korea.
This story first appeared on Voice of America & is reposted here with permission.