South Korean, US and Japanese fighter jets stage a joint aerial drill over the air defense identification zone between South Korea and Japan on Sunday in response to North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile test launch on Oct. 31. (Yonhap)

North Korea on Tuesday fired short-range ballistic missiles into the sea east of the Korean Peninsula just before the US presidential election.

South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a brief announcement the missiles were launched at around 7:30 a.m. from a province south of the North Korean capital Pyongyang toward the sea.

South Korean and US military and intelligence officials are analyzing details of the launch, including their type and range.

Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Tuesday slammed the US flying its B-1B bombers in a trilateral air drill with South Korean and Japan near the Korean Peninsula as “acts of utmost hostility.”

She said the trilateral air drill -- the second such training be held by South Korea, US and Japan this year -- “serve as a justification” for expanding the country’s nuclear program.

North Korea last fired a ballistic missile on Oct. 31 when it tested what is suspected to be a new intercontinental ballistic missile. The ICBM flew higher and for longer than any North Korean missile in the past.

South Korean military and intelligence officials warned last week signs of North Korea preparing to stage a large-scale provocation such as a nuclear test or an ICBM launch around the time of the US election.