North Korea test-fires 2 more missiles as tensions rise with South

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missile toward waters off its eastern coast Monday, adding to a recent flurry in weapons tests as the United States prepared to deploy an aircraft carrier strike group to neighboring waters to step up military exercises with the South.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles flew cross-country after being fired from a western inland area south of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang but didn't immediately release specific flight details. Japan's coast guard said it believed both weapons landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The launches were the North's seventh missile event this month and underscore heightening military tensions in the region as the pace of both North Korean weapons tests and the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises has accelerated in recent months in a cycle of tit-for-tat responses.

The allies last week completed an 11-day exercise that included their biggest field training in years. But ..