SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea on Thursday, its neighbors said, resuming weapons tests days before its rivals the U.S. and South Korea begin annual military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. The launch from North Korea’s eastern coastal Wonsan area was detected around 5 p.m., South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that South Korea’s military has bolstered its surveillance posture and is closely coordinating with the U.S. and Japan. South Korea’s presidential national security council called the North Korean ballistic launch “a provocation” that violates U.N. Security Council resolutions and urged the North to stop it. It was North Korea’s first ballistic missile launch since late June, when it tested a tactical ballistic missile with a “special mission” warhead and other weapons. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the North Korean capital Pyongyang in June for the first time in seven years.