SEOUL, Jan 30 ― North Korea fired multiple unidentified cruise missiles today into the sea off its west coast, South Korea's military said, the third time Pyongyang has tested cruise missiles in less than a week.

The missiles were launched at around 7am (2200 GMT on Monday), Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

South Korean and US intelligence authorities were closely monitoring the situation and analysing the details of the launch, it said.

The launch comes amid a rise in tension on the Korean peninsula and follows a barrage of cruise missiles fired by Pyongyang off its east coast on Sunday.

Sunday's launch was a test of the new submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCM) dubbed "Pulhwasal-3-31” and leader Kim Jong-un supervised the test, North Korean state media KCNA reported on Monday. Last week's missiles were also Pulhwasal-3-31, KCNA said, adding that they were the "strategic”, which typically refers to nuclear-capable weapons.

South Korea's JCS said last week that it believes the firing of "Pulhwasal-3-31” was to test upgrades of existing missiles' capabilities. ― Reuters