SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's military conducted a live-fire drill with its homegrown ballistic missile in east waters on Friday after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) missile launch provocation.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the military staged live-fire drills in the East Sea by mobilizing Hyunmoo-2A ballistic missiles.

The live-firing exercise was carried out minutes after the DPRK's missile launch with the approval of President Moon Jae-in, the JCS said in a statement.

The DPRK launched a ballistic missile, estimated to have been an intermediate-range one, into east waters from a location near its capital Pyongyang at about 6:57 a.m. local time (2227 GMT Thursday).

It flew about 3,700 km over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and landed in the North Pacific, according to the JCS.

About six minutes of the DPRK's missile launch, the South Korean military reportedly fired two Hyunmoo-2A ballistic missiles, which have a range of about 300 km.

The military authorities of South Korea and the United States had closely monitored the moves of the DPRK forces and found the signs of its missile launch in advance.

The signs were reported Thursday to President Moon, who ordered the live-fire drills to be on the standby to show force against the expected missile firings of the DPRK, according to the presidential Blue House.