North Korea has fired several short-range projectiles into the sea off its east coast, South Korea's defence ministry says, just hours after the United Nations slapped sanctions on Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.
The North's launches also come shortly after Seoul approved its first legislation on human rights in North Korea.
Defence spokesman Moon Sang Gyun said the projectiles were fired from the eastern coastal town of Wonsan, adding authorities were trying to determine what exactly North Korea fired.
The projectiles could be missiles, artillery or rockets, according to the Defence Ministry.
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Sanctions on North Korea among toughest ever
North Korea has a history of firing weapons from its prodigious arsenal when angered at international condemnation.
The UN Security Council unanimously approved the toughest sanctions on North Korea in two decades on Wednesday, reflecting growing anger at Pyongyang's latest nuclear test and rocket launch in defiance of a ban on all nuclear-related activity.
The United States and China, North Korea's traditional ally, spent seven weeks negotiating the new sanctions, which include mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by land, sea or air; a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to Pyongyang; and expulsion of diplomats from the North who engage in "illicit activities".
The US, its Western allies and Japan pressed for new sanctions that went beyond the North's nuclear and missile programs, but China was reluctant to impose measures that could threaten the stability of the neighbouring country and cause its economy to collapse.
Nonetheless, Beijing did agree to several measures aimed at shutting down financing for nuclear and missile programs.
"The international community, speaking with one voice, has sent Pyongyang a simple message: North Korea must abandon these dangerous programs and choose a better path for its people," President Barack Obama said in a statement.
North Korea started the new year with what it claims was its first hydrogen bomb test on January 6 and launched a satellite on a rocket on February 7. The launch was condemned by much of the world as a test of banned missile technology.
North Korea ignored the chance to address the Security Council and a spokesman for the country's UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
