North Korea on Tuesday fired a short-range missile into the East Sea in another show of force, the South’s military said.

The projectile took off at around 5:40 p.m. from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan and flew some 200 kilometers toward the northeastern inland areas, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. 

“Our military maintains tight readiness posture while closely tracking and monitoring related movements,” the JCS said in a statement.

The launch marks the latest in an ongoing series of armed protest by Pyongyang, apparently targeting South Korea-U.S. joint military drills and their sanctions drive, which will pick up during the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington later this week.

On March 18, the communist state lifted off two medium-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, prompting the allies’ condemnation over its violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. On March 10, the North fired two short-range Scud missiles into the East Sea.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)