North Korea test-fired two short-range missiles yesterday as the United States urged the communist nation to abide by its moratorium on tests.
A South Korean intelligence official said: "It is true that North Korea fired the missiles yesterday."
He said there had been indications of a missile launch over the past two days, including the transfer of equipment to the area of the launch site at Sabujin, near the city of Kim Chaek on the Sea of Japan.
He could not confirm the direction of the missile launch.
But Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted a "security source" in China yesterday as saying the missiles were fired by mistake in the direction of China during a military drill and apparently landed inside the country.
The agency also cited a "Western military source" as saying the short-range missiles were test-fired in an eastern direction from the North's eastern coast, toward the Sea of Japan.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said "indications are that North Korea launched two short-range missiles" similar to tests it has conducted in the past.
He said: "We have consistently pointed out that North Korea's missile programme is a concern that poses a threat to the region and the larger international community."
Pyongyang shocked Tokyo and other nations when it test-fired a ballistic missile over northern Japan in 1998, giving impetus to US and Japanese efforts to upgrade missile defence systems.
Although North Korea announced a moratorium on missile tests a year later, it has since test-fired short-range missiles many times, including one launched into the Sea of Japan last May.
US officials said North Korea should abide by its missile moratorium, and that its activities demonstrated the importance of getting Pyongyang to drop its boycott of six-nation talks on halting its nuclear weapons program.
AP