Television news coverage showing archive footage of a North Korean missile launch is broadcast on a public screen in Seoul on March 6, 2017. Nuclear-armed North Korea fired four ballistic missiles east of the peninsula, with Japan saying three of them landed in its waters. Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile last month -- its first such launch since October -- which Seoul said was aimed at testing the response from the new US administration of President Donald Trump. / AFP PHOTO / YONHAP / STR / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT NO ARCHIVES RESTRICTED TO SUBSCRIPTION USE STR/AFP/Getty Images
North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into the sea off Japan (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
North Korea has fired four banned ballistic missiles into the sea in what is seen as an act of provocation towards the White House.
Three of the ballistic missiles landed in waters off Japan having travelled around 620 miles, in what appeared to be a reaction to large-scale U.S.-South Korean military drills.
The test-fire was the latest in a series of missile launches in recent months including  an intermediate-range missile in February and two nuclear tests last year.
There are concerns the secretive state will develop a test that would give it the capability of reaching the US mainland.
Both the US and South Korea have condemned the launches and agreed to boost cooperation to get the North to face more effective sanctions.

epa05832259 Military personnel walk past Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile interceptor unit deployed to counter North Korea's launch of ballistic missile at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, Japan, 06 March 2017. According to media reports, North Korea has proceeded to launches of four ballistic missiles, as three of them crashed into Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Sea of Japan. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
Military personnel walk past Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force Patriot (Picture: EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON)

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attends the upper house parliamentary session after reports on North Korea's missile launches, in Tokyo, Japan, March 6, 2017.REUTERS/Issei Kato
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has condemned recent launches (Picture: REUTERS/Issei Kato)
They say the military drills in the Korean Peninsula are both defensive and routine.
Japanese officials said three missiles landed in the 200-nautical-mile offshore area where Tokyo has sovereign rights for exploring and exploiting resources.
(Metro, Uk)