Formation of the ground-state nitrogen atom, N(S-4), following 193.3-nm ArF laser irradiation of NO and NO2 was detected directly by a technique of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy at 120.07 nm. Tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) laser radiation around 120.07 nm was generated by two-photon resonance four-wave sum frequency mixing in Hg vapor. Photoexcitation processes of NO and NO2 giving rise to the N(S-4) formation are discussed on the basis of the Doppler profiles of the nascent N(S-4) atoms produced from the photolysis of NO and NO2 and the photolysis laser-power dependence of the N(S-4) signal intensities. Using laser flash photolysis and vacuum ultraviolet laser-induced fluorescence detection, the kinetics of the reactions of N(S-4) with NO and NO2 have been investigated at 295 +/- 2 K. The rate constants for the reactions of N(4S) with NO and NO2 were determined to be (3.8 +/-0.2) x 10-(11) and (7.3 +/- 0.9) x 10(-12) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), respectively, where the quoted uncertainties are 2 sigma statistical uncertainty including estimated systematic error.