SEOUL (AP): North Korea has reportedly fired several short-range missiles off its western coast.

Yonhap agency reported the launches Friday, but no details were immediately available. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was checking the report.

The reported launches come a day after South Korea withdrew officials from a joint industrial zone with North Korea on Pyongyang's request.

The move was sparked by the North's anger over the tougher policy stance taken by new South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on the communist nation, a contrast from a decade of liberal Seoul governments.