After the most recent missile tests over the weekend, North Korea once again fired two ballistic missiles into the sea.
According to the South Korean military, the missile tests were carried out on Wednesday during a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Seoul.
Analysts consider the timing of the tests to be an unmistakable signal to Beijing, which is considered North Korea's most important diplomatic ally and trading partner.
The rockets were fired from the interior of the country into the sea, said the general staff of Seoul.
"South Korean and US intelligence services are currently working on detailed analyzes," the statement said.
Initially, no information was given on the range of the missiles.
North Korea expert Yang Moo Jin assessed the recent missile tests as "an indirect message from North Korea and even an invitation to Beijing to put the Korean peninsula as a central issue on the Chinese agenda".
At the same time, Pyongyang apparently wanted to demonstrate its supremacy on the Korean peninsula.
On Saturday and Sunday, North Korea claimed to have tested a new "long-range missile".
According to a report by the official news agency KCNA, the tests were "successful".
The missiles would have flown over North Korean land and sea and hit targets 1500 kilometers away.
Because of its nuclear and missile program, North Korea is subject to harsh international sanctions, which make the economy of the communist-led and largely isolated country difficult.
Talks between the US and North Korea about the dismantling of the North Korean nuclear arsenal have been on hold since a summit meeting between ruler Kim Jong Un and then US President Donald Trump in 2019. Under the US President Joe Biden, who has been in office since the beginning of the year, there has so far been no rapprochement between Washington and Pyongyang.