SEOUL: North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Thursday, its first launch in more than two months, South Korea's military said.

Japan's Coast Guard also said a projectile, believed to be a ballistic missile fired from North Korea, had already fallen.

There had been no reports of damage from the suspected missile, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported, citing a Japanese government source.

North Korea last fired a missile on July 1, when it claimed to have successfully tested a new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying a 4.5-ton super-large warhead.

The isolated country has also been sending balloons carrying trash across the border into the south over the last few days, a campaign kicked off in May in retaliation for anti-Pyongyang leaflets flown into the country using inflatables by South Korean activists.