N. Korea fires missiles in anger as South-US drills begin

SEOUL: North Korea fired missiles into the sea Monday and vowed "merciless strikes" against the US and South Korea, as the allies kicked off eight weeks of joint military drills denounced by Pyongyang.

The annual exercises always trigger a surge in military tensions and warlike rhetoric on the divided peninsula, and analysts saw the North's missile tests as a prelude to a concerted campaign of sabre rattling.