SEOUL - North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles from its eastern coast on Sunday, sending both weapons toward the sea as the United States and its Asian allies monitored the latest display of Pyongyang's expanding arsenal.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired about three hours apart from the Wonsan area. The first was detected at around 3 p.m. local time and traveled about 450 kilometers, or 280 miles. The second was detected at roughly 5:50 p.m. and flew more than 600 kilometers, or 370 miles, before falling into waters east of the Korean Peninsula.

Japan's Defense Ministry provided a similar assessment of the second launch. It said the missile was fired at about 5:54 p.m., reached an estimated maximum altitude of approximately 70 kilometers and traveled roughly 590 kilometers. The weapon was believed to have landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, and authorities had received no reports of damage to aircraft or vessels.

South Korea said its military and intelligence agencies tracked the launches from the initial stage and shared information with the United States and Japan. Seoul's National Security Office convened an emergency meeting, reviewed the country's response posture and urged North Korea to stop actions that violate United Nations Security Council resolutions restricting its ballistic-missile program.

The tests came about a week after North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles from the same region. Pyongyang later described that earlier activity as a joint strike drill involving artillery, missiles, attack drones and other systems. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un, has also threatened action over military exercises involving the United States, South Korea and Japan, which the North portrays as preparations for invasion.

Sunday's launches occurred days before President Donald Trump is scheduled to host Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. The White House has said denuclearizing North Korea remains a shared goal, while Trump has expressed interest in renewed contact with Kim. Beijing is North Korea's most important economic partner, although it does not control every decision made by the government in Pyongyang.

The timing does not prove that the missiles were ordered as a direct message about the summit. North Korea conducts weapons tests for technical, military and political reasons, and neither Seoul nor Tokyo publicly identified the specific missile model. Yet the pattern is familiar: Pyongyang creates a visible security problem, denounces allied defensive exercises and then demands that other governments treat its escalation as the starting point for negotiation.

That pattern rewards attention while shifting the burden of restraint onto democracies. The United States and South Korea can reduce or modify an exercise in search of diplomatic space, but the North can still test weapons and blame the alliance. If Washington responds by weakening readiness again without obtaining measurable concessions, Pyongyang learns that threats produce benefits while compliance is optional.

Diplomacy remains necessary because miscalculation on the Korean Peninsula could be catastrophic. But diplomacy without deterrence is only an invitation to bargain under pressure. Any renewed talks should be tied to verifiable steps, such as limits on testing, access for inspectors and enforceable sanctions relief that can be reversed if commitments are broken.

The launches also test Beijing's claim to be a stabilizing global power. China routinely calls for calm, but it has often resisted stronger pressure on North Korea and remains a vital commercial channel for the isolated regime. If Xi wants Washington to treat China as a responsible partner, helping enforce existing United Nations restrictions would be more persuasive than another general appeal for dialogue.

For the United States, the immediate lesson is the value of its alliances. South Korean detection, Japanese tracking and rapid intelligence sharing created a common factual picture within hours. That network is difficult for an authoritarian adversary to isolate or intimidate. It also gives Washington options short of conflict, from coordinated sanctions enforcement to missile defense and joint readiness.

North Korea's two missiles landed at sea, but the political target was wider. The regime is testing whether allied attention can be divided, whether a high-profile summit will soften the response and whether repeated violations will become routine. The answer should combine an open door to serious negotiation with a clear refusal to pay for the privilege of being threatened.