North Korea Trolls Everyone by Firing 25 Missiles into the Sea

In protest of ongoing joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea, North Korea on Sunday test-fired as many as 25 short-range missiles into the sea.

In protest of ongoing joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea, North Korea on Sunday test-fired as many as 25 short-range missiles into the sea off its eastern coast. The short-range missiles flew about 45 miles before landing in the water.

South Korean officials initially reported that 10 missiles had been fired, but different news sources are offering different quantities, including 18 and 25 (the AP report has 18 in the headline and 25 in the lede; Reuters simultaneously says 25 and 10).

Regardless of number, North Korea says that the missile launches are defensive measures against an imminent invasion by South Korea and the United States. The country took a similar stance during 2013's joint exercises. Unlike last year's nuclear weapons test, however, this year's weapons of choice are unguided, Soviet-era FROG rockets. They do not have nuclear capabilities.

The State Department said it was monitoring the situation, like they always are, and gave a pretty boilerplate call for North Korea to stand down and stop trying to provoke everyone.