The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired two unidentified projectile toward the East Sea on Thursday afternoon, Yonhap News Agency reported citing the Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

(Photo: Yonhap)

"Our military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture," the JCS said in a release, quoted by Yonhap.

The JCS said that the projectiles were launched from the DPRK's western province of South Pyongan toward the eastern waters in the afternoon.

Japan's coast guard said that they appeared to be missiles, and landed outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from land.

The latest projectile launch by the DPRK was conducted on October 2 when the ROK saw it as a Pukkuksong-type of submarine-launched ballistic missile.

The DPRK has test-fired short-range projectiles 12 times this year. 

The launch on Thursday comes amid stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States and tension between the two Koreas. 

On Sunday, the DPRK said there had been no progress in DPRK-United States relations. DPRK leader Kim Jong Un has set an end-of-the-year deadline for denuclearization talks with Washington, and in the Sunday statement a senior DPRK official said it would be a mistake for the United States to ignore that deadline. 

Meanwhile, ROK's Blue House said Thursday that Kim Jong Un has sent his condolence message to ROK President Moon Jae-in over the death of Moon's mother, Kang Han-ok. 

The condolence letter was sent through the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom on Wednesday afternoon, and it was directly delivered to President Moon who had stayed at a Catholic Cathedral in the country's southeastern port city of Busan for the funeral service.