SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that North Korea has fired a ballistic missile toward sea Wednesday, but gave no further details like how far it flew.

The launch came hours after North Korea issued a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons to get the U.S. and South Korea to “pay the most horrible price in history” — an escalation of its fiery rhetoric targeting the ongoing large-scale military drills between its rivals.

In a statement, Pak Jong Chon, a secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party who is considered a close confidant of leader Kim Jong Un, called the ongoing military drills between South Korea and the U.S. “aggressive and provocative.”

North Korea has argued its recent weapons tests were meant to issue a warning to Washington and Seoul over their series of joint military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal, including this week’s exercises involving about 240 warplanes.