"The North fired two missiles into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) at about 5:00 am from the countrys east coast," a defense ministry spokesman told AFP.

The rockets fired were short-range Scud missiles with a range of about 500 kilometers, Yonhap news agency cited a military official as saying.

Japan has already voiced protest against the test firing.

On Thursday, Pyongyang fired what were believed to be three short-range missiles into the sea in an apparent show of force ahead of a visit to Seoul by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
North Korea has recently expressed anger with alleged South Korean artillery test-fires near a disputed maritime boundary in the Yellow Sea.