ASIA PIVOT: North Korea fires three ballistic missiles; China opposes THAAD.

The missiles were fired from areas around Hwangju county, in North Hwanghae province, towards the Sea of Japan, South Korea’s military said in a statement.

Officials said the launch was believed to be of mid-range Rodong missiles, and flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) “without giving any prior navigational warning.”

It comes just under two weeks after Pyongyang test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

That missile entered Japan’s air defense identification zone, the first time that has happened. Monday’s launch also fired missiles into the Japanese defense zone, again without warning.

THAAD is the Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile missile, designed to shoot down missiles like North Korea’s, and which Japan and South Korea have expressed interest in hosting on their territories. Beijing says THAAD deployment would harm “China’s legitimate national security interests,” even though it is a strictly defensive system.