Beijing: North Korea has fired a volley of cruise missiles off its eastern coast, the South Korean military said on Thursday morning.

The multiple short range surface-to-ship cruise missiles flew 200 kilometres from the city of Wonsan, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.

The missile launches come a day after the South Korean government said it would halt any further installation of the United States THAAD anti-missile radar until an investigation of its environmental impact was carried out.

The delay could take until the end of the year, the Yonhap news agency reported.