Just hours after it was hit with harsh new UN sanctions on Wednesday, North Korea fired several short-range missiles toward the Sea of Japan. A South Korean defense official says the exact type of projectile fired from the eastern coastal town of Wonsan is being investigated, adding that all of the missiles fell into the sea, Yonhap News reports. There were six projectiles shot, Al Jazeera reports; they could have been missiles, artillery, or rockets. It's not the first time the isolated country has carried out "live firing near or across its borders when facing international condemnation," according to the Guardian.
The new sanctions—which have buy-in from China, North Korea's traditional ally—aim to clamp down on Pyongyang's "defiant testing of nuclear bombs and ballistic missiles," the New York Times reports. In January, for instance, Pyongyang said it successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb, a claim that has been much disputed. The toughest restrictions placed on North Korea in two decades, the sanctions include mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering the country, a ban on sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to North Korea, and a ban on the export of various fuels and minerals to the country. (More North Korea stories.)