North Korea launched two ballistic missiles eastward early on Wednesday, and both appeared to have fallen outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.
The first missile reached an altitude of 50 km (31 miles) and covered a range of 550 km, while the second one rose as high as 50 km and flew 600 km, Hamada told reporters.
Japan lodged a protest against the missile launches through diplomatic channels, he said.
In Washington, the U.S. military said the latest North Korean ballistic missile launches do not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to its allies.
The U.S. commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan remains "ironclad," the U.S. military added.
The firing comes nearly a week after North Korea tested its latest Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile, a launch Pyongyang said was a warning to the United States and other adversaries.
Wednesday's launch came a day after a U.S. nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine visited South Korea for the first time since the 1980s.
Also on Tuesday, a U.S. soldier facing disciplinary action fled across the inter-Korean border into North Korea. The soldier is believed to be in North Korean custody, Washington said, creating a fresh crisis between the two foes.
