A man watches a news programme reporting about North Korea’s missile launch
(Picture: AP)North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday, its fourth weapons launch this month alone.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North likely fired two short-range ballistic missiles from an area in Sunan, where Pyongyang's international airport is located.
The missiles were launched four minutes apart on Monday morning and flew around 236 miles, on a maximum altitude of 26 miles, before landing in waters off the country's northeastern coast, it said.
Japan also reported the launch, condemning it as a “threat to peace” and security.
The Japanese defence minister, Nobuo Kishi, told reporters: "It is self-evident that the aim of North Korea’s frequent missile launches is to improve their missile technology.
"The repeated launching of North Korea’s ballistic missiles is a grave problem for the international community, including Japan," Mr Kishi said.
UN Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from all ballistic missile development.
North Korea has been ramping up tests in recent months of new, potentially nuclear-capable, missiles designed to fly at lower altitudes in a bid to evade missile defences in the region.
US President Joe Biden's administration imposed its first new sanctions on Pyongyang on Wednesday, and has called on the UN Security Council to blacklist several North Korean individuals and entities.
It also repeated calls for North Korea to return to talks aimed at reducing tension and persuading it to surrender its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
In a statement, before missile tests last week, the North Korean foreign ministry said that the United States was still engrossed in a policy of "isolating and stifling" North Korea.
South Korea's national security council held an emergency meeting after Monday's test.
Members stressed that "above all else, it is essential to start dialogue as soon as possible in order for the situation on the Korean Peninsula to not become more strained and to restore stability", the presidential Blue House said in a statement.
The launches came as North Korea, which has imposed strict border closures aimed at preventing Covid, appeared to be preparing to open at least some trade across its land border with China.
A North Korean train pulled into a Chinese border town on Sunday in the first such crossing since lockdowns began in 2020.
China says it enforces existing international sanctions on North Korea, but has joined with Russia to urge the UN Security Council to ease the measures, saying they hurt the civilian population.
