North Korea fired cruise missiles into the sea in a westward direction today, South Korea’s National Defense General Staff said, as it continues a series of weapons tests it has been conducting at an intensive pace this year.

The South Korean military detected the launch of the “unknown” missiles in the direction of the “West Sea”, also known as the Yellow Sea, “at around 07:00” (local time; midnight Greek time), according to the staff.

US and South Korean intelligence agencies are conducting a “detailed analysis” of that test, the same source added.

This is the third missile test in less than a week. The previous one was on Sunday.

“Our military is working closely with the US, while strengthening surveillance and vigilance, and closely monitoring North Korea’s activities,” the generals in Seoul said in a statement.

Unlike ballistic missile tests, cruise missile launches are not prohibited under UN sanctions against Pyongyang.

Last Wednesday, North Korea proceeded to launch cruise missiles in the direction of the Yellow Sea, asserting that it had tested a new generation of “strategic” weapon systems of the kind. The official North Korean news agency KCNA also reported yesterday that the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, personally supervised the test launch of two cruise missiles from a submarine the day before yesterday.

Tensions between North and South Korea have been escalating in recent months.

The two governments suspended agreements they struck in 2018 to prevent incidents on their borders, beefed up their forces on the highly militarized border and engaged in live-fire artillery drills in each other’s direction.

The neighboring states remain, technically, at war, as the Korean War (1950-1953) ended with an armistice, no peace agreement was ever signed.