SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired five short-range missiles off its eastern coast on Sunday in a demonstration of its improving missile technology, the South Korean Defense Ministry said.

The five projectiles were launched from locations near Wonsan, a coastal town east of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and flew about 125 miles northeast before plunging into the sea, a Defense Ministry spokesman here said on the customary condition of anonymity.

The missile launchings came a day after North Korea said that its leader, Kim Jong-un, had witnessed the test-firing of a new antiship missile.