Seoul: North Korea welcomed a US envoy's visit to Seoul by firing two missiles on Thursday, the South's military said, in Pyongyang's second launch in less than a week as it seeks to up the ante in deadlocked nuclear negotiations with Washington.

It came after North Korea carried out a military drill and fired multiple projectiles on Saturday, when at least one was believed to be a short-range missile. The North had not previously fired a missile since November 2017, shortly before a rapid diplomatic thaw eased high tensions on the peninsula and paved the way for a historic first meeting between its leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.