Acting President Choi Sang-mok speaks during a Cabinet meeting in Seoul, Jan. 14. Yonhap

Acting President Choi Sang-mok strongly condemned North Korea's firing of multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Tuesday, pledging a firm response based on the strong South Korea-U.S. alliance.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the missile launch was detected at around 9:30 a.m. from the Ganggye region in North Korea's Jagang Province. The provocation comes just days before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

"This is a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions," Choi said during a Cabinet meeting.

Choi added the government will respond more firmly to North Korea's provocations based on a strong defense posture and the solid South Korea-U.S. alliance.

Tuesday's launch marked the recalcitrant regime's second provocation this year, after it fired what it claimed to be a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile on Jan. 6. (Yonhap)