Official media reported that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, personally supervised one of his country's missile tests and military drills, including the launch of what are believed to be short-range ballistic missiles, for the second time in a week.
North Korea fired several projectiles into the sea, the day before yesterday, as part of the firing exercises, according to the South Korean army, which sparked American and Chinese calls for Pyongyang to return to the talks aimed at ending its nuclear and missile programs.
The North Korean Central News Agency said that the leaders of the Korean People's Army accompanied Kim, who expressed great satisfaction with the result of the exercises.
The agency said: "The purpose of the firing exercises is to examine the sudden military offensive capability of long-range artillery units on the front front."
Pictures, published by the Korean Central News Agency, showed soldiers firing a number of artillery shells, in addition to missiles from multiple-missile systems.
The South Korean Joint Staff said that the missiles had flown for 200 km and had reached a height of 50 km.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense confirmed that Pyongyang fired more than one projectile, and that the projectiles were believed to be ballistic missiles, adding that they fell outside the exclusive economic zone of Japan.
This comes a week after Pyongyang launched two missiles, which Japan described as two ballistic missiles, in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
Britain, Germany, France, Estonia and Belgium have sparked the recent missile launches by North Korea at the UN Security Council, calling it a "provocative act, in violation of United Nations resolutions."
It is noteworthy that North Korea is banned from testing ballistic missiles in accordance with United Nations resolutions, and strict international sanctions have been imposed to deter it from further developing missiles that may be equipped with nuclear warheads.