SEOUL: North Korea fired short-range projectiles into the sea off its eastern coast on Thursday, South Korea’s defense ministry said, hours after the UN Security Council imposed tough new sanctions on Pyongyang. The ministry said six projectiles with an apparent range of 100-150 km were fired into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) at 0100 GMT.

Spokesman Moon Sang-Gyun said the ministry was still analyzing whether they were short-range missiles or rockets.

“The South Korean military is monitoring any additional movements from the North,” he added.

North Korea regularly fires missiles or rockets to show its displeasure with any perceived slight by its neighbors or the wider international community.

The sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council late Wednesday were the toughest to date on North Korea which conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and a long-range rocket launch last month.

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 neighboring country and cause its economy to collapse.