European member states of the UN Security Council requested a meeting to discuss North Korea's recent missile tests, while a senior Pyongyang official said that US President Joe Biden had revealed "hidden hostility" towards his country.

Diplomats said that France, Estonia, Ireland, Norway and Britain have requested a closed meeting of the Security Council next Tuesday in this regard.

Separately, a United Nations sanctions committee focusing on North Korea's missile and nuclear programs asked its experts to investigate Pyongyang's missile launches last Thursday.

This committee is made up of members from the same 15 states that are members of the Security Council, and experts were informed of the request yesterday during a closed meeting.

North Korea announced Friday that what it launched into the Sea of ​​Japan on Thursday was a new "guided tactical projectile".

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that the two missiles were "Ballastians," a type of missiles that Pyongyang is prohibited from developing under a UN Security Council resolution.

This is the first escalation in North Korea since the arrival of US President Joe Biden to the presidency.

Biden warned that his country "will respond to any" escalation, "describing the launch of the two missiles as a" violation "of Security Council resolutions.

One of the missiles when launched (Reuters)

"Prejudice and provoke"

In response, a senior Pyongyang official described Biden's comments as "a prejudice and a provocation," according to the North Korean Central News Agency today.

Rhee Byung Chol - who supervised the launch of the two missiles - said in a statement carried by the agency, that "comments like this by the US President are a clear violation of our country's right to self-defense and a provocation to it."

The official expressed his regret over Biden's disclosure of his "deep hostility," expressing his belief that "the US administration clearly took its first step wrongly."

"If the United States continues its reckless comments without thinking about the results, then it can be confronted with something unfortunate," he added, warning that North Korea is ready to continue strengthening its military might.

Under Kim Jong Un's leadership, Pyongyang rapidly advanced its capabilities by testing missiles capable of reaching all of the United States.