In a significant development on Sunday, North Korea launched several ballistic missiles towards the east just before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s scheduled trip to China. This information was confirmed by the South Korean military, as reported by The Associated Press.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff noted that these missile launches were detected from North Korea’s capital region early on Sunday morning. This incident adds another layer of complexity to the already tense geopolitical landscape in the region, according to the same AP report.

Reacting to these events, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command issued a statement acknowledging their awareness of the missile launches. They emphasized that they are in close consultation with their allies and partners to address the situation, demonstrating the importance of international cooperation in maintaining regional stability.

North Korea on Sunday fired a number of ballistic missiles to its east prior to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung heading to China, the South Korean military said, according to The Associated Press.

Per the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military identified multiple launches of ballistic missiles in the capital region of North Korea on Sunday morning, the AP reported. 

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that it was “aware of the missile launches and are consulting closely with our allies and partners.”

“Based on current assessments, this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies. The United States remains committed to the defense of the U.S. homeland and our allies in the region,” the statement continued.

Global tensions are currently heightened after President Trump announced on Saturday that the U.S. had gone through with a “large scale strike” on Venezuela, with U.S. forces capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the country said it was “paying attention to the gravity of the present Venezuelan situation caused by the U.S.[‘s] high-handedness act, in connection with the increase of instability to be added to the already weakened regional situation.”

“The incident is another example that clearly confirms once again the rogue and brutal nature of the U.S. which the international community has so frequently witnessed for a long time,” a spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday, per KCNA.

Maduro’s capture comes as tensions ratcheted up for months between the U.S. and Venezuela, with the Trump administration putting together a large naval presence off the Venezuelan coast.

Lee arrived in China overnight as the country looks to deepen ties with its neighbor, the AP reported.