North Korea test-fires 2 more missiles as tensions rise

North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missile toward waters off its eastern coast, adding to a recent flurry in weapons tests. The launches early Monday precede the deployment by the United States of an aircraft carrier strike group to neighboring waters to step up military exercises with South Korea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North's missiles flew cross-country after being fired from a western inland area south of Pyongyang. The launches were the North’s seventh missile event this month. They underscore heightening tensions as the pace of both North Korean weapons tests and the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises has accelerated in a cycle of tit-for-tat responses.