[A view of a North Korean missile launch, in this undated picture released by North Korea. (Photo by=Kcna/Reuters)]

SEOUL:  In Pyongyang's sixth such launch this year, North Korea fired two apparent short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, South Korea's military revealed.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from in and around Hamhung, a city on its east coast, at around 8 a.m. and 8:05 a.m., respectively, and they flew about 190 kilometers at a top altitude of 20 km. "For more details, the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters. The South Korean military keeps close tabs on related North Korean movements and maintains a readiness posture, the JCS added. As to the type of missiles fired Thursday, the military authorities are looking into "all possibilities," including them being multiple rocket launchers, a military official here said, requesting anonymity.

The latest launch, the North is presumed to have set a target on Al Island, an uninhabited island off the North's east coast, the official said. South Korea's presidential National Security Council (NSC) held an emergency meeting and called the North's latest launch "very regrettable." The recent bouts of the North's saber-rattling came as the United States has been stepping up sanctions pressure amid a protracted deadlock in its nuclear negotiations with the recalcitrant regime.