North Korea has launched three powerful ballistic missiles from its east coast.

The weapons are thought to be Scud missiles, in defiance of UN sanctions banning the communist state from nuclear testing.

5 North Korea has carried out many unsuccessful ballistic missile launches this year Credit: KCNA

5 North Korea have carried out simulated tests of atmospheric re-entry of a ballistic missile Credit: Reuters

The missiles were launched towards the east from an area in the North's western region from 5:45 a.m. (2045 GMT Monday) to 6:40 a.m.

The range is between 300-360 miles, well within reach of all of South Korea, the South's military said.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) added that South Korea's military is keeping a close eye on the developments.

5 The UN has banned Kim Jong Un from testing missiles Credit: KCNA

Last month North Korea claimed to have successfully launched a missile with a range of 3,000 miles, which Kim Jong Un declared has the ability to reach America.

International condemnation was swift, with the United States and Japan labelling the launches a clear violation of UN resolutions, and South Korea vowing to push for tighter sanctions on Pyongyang.

5 North Korea test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile earlier in July Credit: Getty Images

Existing UN Security Council measures ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology.

The launch comes just days after American intelligence reports and South Korean data revealed an increase in activity at a nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, Yonhap news reported.

Pyongyang lashed out earlier this month after Washington blacklisted the isolated state's leader for alleged human rights abuses.

It described the sanctioning of Kim as a "hideous crime" that is 'an open declaration of war', according to North Korea's official KCNA agency.

5 North Korean carried out a Musudan missile test at the end of June Credit: Getty Images

The country has also threatened to take an unspecified "physical response" after Seoul and Washington revealed their decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, in the South following the recent North Korean missile and nuclear tests.

In a statement last week, North Korea's military said: “There will be physical response measures from us as soon as the location and time that the invasionary tool for US world supremacy, Thaad, will be brought into South Korea.”

“It is the unwavering will of our army to deal a ruthless retaliatory strike and turn [the South] into a sea of fire and a pile of ashes the moment we have an order to carry it out.”

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