North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday, South Korea's military said, AP reports.

The launches came just a day after Washington and Seoul announced a cutback in their joint military drills, a move the US had taken in hopes of restarting dialogue with Pyongyang. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches happened from North Korea’s capital region around 5 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Thursday.

The military said the missiles flew about 300 kilometers (185 miles) each toward North Korea’s eastern waters. The military said South Korea has bolstered its surveillance posture and was closely coordinating information on the launches with the US and Japan.

South Korea’s presidential national security council issued a statement urging North Korea to halt ballistic missile launches. The Japanese prime minister’s office had earlier said that it detected a suspected missile launch.