North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles from its east coast on Monday morning, its second such test in a week, according to the South Korea military. Photo by Jeong Heon-kyun/EPA-EFE

SEOUL, March 8 (UPI) -- North Korea fired three unidentified projectiles into waters off its east coast on Monday morning, its second weapons test in a week, South Korea's military announced.

The projectiles were fired from a location near the town of Sondok in South Hamgyong Province, South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said in a release, noting that the military is monitoring for possible additional launches.


South Korean defense officials held an emergency meeting on Monday and "reviewed the overall military security situation around the country," the country's presidential Blue House said in a brief statement. The statement added that the recent military activities by the North "did not help peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula."

North Korea fired a pair of short-range projectiles March 2, two days after conducting live-fire exercises, moves that drew the condemnation of South Korea, as well as five European member states of the United Nations Security Council.

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After a closed-door meeting, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany and Britain criticized the "provocative actions" of the North and said the missile tests undermined regional stability and peace.

Pyongyang responded on Saturday, calling the statement an "absurd argument" and defending the right of North Korea to conduct military exercises.

"The routine drills of our army are just the same as those conducted by any country of the world," a representative of North Korea's foreign ministry was quoted as saying in the state-run Korea Central News Agency.

The representative warned that the condemnation "will become a fuse that will trigger yet another momentous reaction."

Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, also made a statement last week defending the missile tests and criticizing South Korea's condemnation, calling remarks from President Moon Jae-in an "incoherent and imbecile way of thinking."

Nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea have stalled since a summit last year between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, failed to produce an agreement.

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After a 17-month hiatus, Pyongyang conducted more than a dozen weapons tests throughout the latter half of 2019, launching several short-range ballistic missiles, including its first submarine-launched missile and a version of the highly maneuverable Russian Iskander.

In December, the North carried out a pair of what it called "crucial" tests at its Sohae Satellite Launching Station, which analysts suggested could be a long-range rocket engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile.

At the end of 2019, Kim Jong Un announced that there was no longer any reason for North Korea to be "unilaterally bound" to its commitment to halt nuclear and inter-continental ballistic missile tests and warned of a "new strategic weapon" coming soon.

The latest weapons test comes as South Korea continues to battle a coronavirus outbreak, with the number of confirmed cases rising to 7,382 by Monday. Last week, Kim Jong Un sent a letter to Moon expressing support.

The North Korean leader also "expressed his candid thoughts and positions on the situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula," in the letter, the Blue House said.