North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast, South Korea's armed forces said, and leader Kim Jong-un's influential sister warned of the danger of turning the Pacific Ocean into a "firing range", Reuters reported.

The launch comes just two days after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the sea off Japan's west coast, to which the US and South Korea responded yesterday with joint air exercises.

North Korean state media confirmed that the North had fired two projectiles from a salvo fire system at targets at a distance of 395 kilometers and 337 kilometers, respectively.

"The 600-millimeter missile system mobilized in the shooting... is a tactical nuclear weapon" capable of "paralyzing" an enemy airfield, the state news agency KCTA reported.

Japan's defense ministry said the two ballistic missiles reached a maximum altitude of about 100 km and 50 km respectively, traveled a distance of about 350-400 km and fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

There were no reports of damage to aircraft or vessels.

In a statement, the ministry said it would continue to collect and analyze information in close cooperation with the US.

"North Korea's series of actions, including repeated ballistic missile launches, threaten the peace and security of Japan, the region and the international community," the ministry said.

"Japan strongly protests and strongly condemns North Korea," the statement added.

North Korea has confirmed that it has tested an intercontinental ballistic missile

Kim Yo-chen, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, issued a statement warning against the increased presence of US "strategic assets" on the Korean peninsula after the US separately conducted joint air exercises with South Korea and Japan yesterday.

"We are carefully examining the impact it would have on the security of our country," she said in a statement.

"The frequency of using the Pacific Ocean as our firing range depends on the nature of the actions of US forces," Kim also wrote.

The launch came just two days after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the sea off Japan's west coast in what it called a "surprise launch exercise".

Today's launch was the North's third major weapons test this year after Pyongyang threatened an "unprecedentedly assertive and strong" response as South Korea and the US prepared for their annual military exercises as part of their efforts to fend off a growing nuclear and missile threat. on the part of North Korea, according to Reuters.

South Korea's foreign ministry said it had imposed new sanctions on four individuals and five entities linked to North Korea's weapons programs in response to the launches.

ballistic missile