The television footage of North Korea's intermediate-range ballistic missile being aired is shown at Seoul Station, Jan. 6. Yonhap

North Korea launched suspected multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, in a provocation staged just days before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch at about 9:30 a.m. from the Ganggye area in the North's Jagang Province.

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.

In a year-end party meeting, North Korea declared it would carry out the "toughest" counteraction strategy toward the United States, claiming military cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan has expanded into a "military bloc for aggression."

"In preparation against additional launches, our military has strengthened our monitoring and vigilance, while closely sharing information on the North Korean missile with the U.S. and Japanese sides and maintaining a full readiness posture," the JCS said. (Yonhap)