As a likely protest to the recent U.S.-South Korean military drills, North Korea has launched four short-range missiles off the eastern coast.

Kim Min-Seok, a spokesman from South Korea's Defense Ministry, reported that the projectiles were Scud missiles with a range of more than 200 kilometers, or roughly 125 miles. While the missiles don't compare to the long distance multi-stage rockets used in North Korean tests in 2012, they are well within the range of striking South Korea.

This is the first time North Korea has tested Scud missiles since 2009. This also comes just one week after North Korea launched four other short-range KN-O2 missiles, though those were limited to a range of about 100 kilometers, or 62 miles.

According to the Pentagon and South Korean analysts, however, this isn't a cause to panic. North Korea has conducted similar tests in the past, usually as a defensive measure. More importantly, the missiles were launched towards Russia, far from the area where U.S.-South Korean joint drills were being conducted.

"The launches were a test designed to improve its missile capability and also an armed protest against the drills," said analyst Cheong Seong-jang of the Sejong Institute in South Korea. "But we already know (they have Scud missiles) ... We also have such a level of missiles. The launches didn't have special meaning."

While it is clear North Korea does not approve of South Korea and the United States collaborating in military efforts, the launch was not indicitive of the tension displayed last year when North Korea issued nuclear threats to both countries.

"North Korea's missile launch is merely part of their ongoing efforts to demonstrate to the world, and more importantly to their own people, what they are capable of," said Foreign Policy editor David Rothkopf. "It is more showmanship than meaningful geopolitics."

North Korea has recently displayed minor attempts at soothing relations with its southern rival, most recently exhibited by allowing brief reunions between siblings separated during the Korean War. Analysts, however, believe that that the reunions were a calculated political ploy to try to discourage South Korea's relations with the United States.