North Korea said Friday that hundreds of families have fallen ill with an unidentified intestinal disease, heaping pressure on a crumbling healthcare system already strained by Covid-19.

North Korea's recent missile tests were "serious, unlawful" provocations, senior officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan said on Wednesday, urging Pyongyang to return to dialogue and accept offers of Covid-19 aid.

South Korea and the United States fired eight ballistic missiles on Monday in response to North Korean weapons tests the previous day, Seoul's military said.

North Korea fired eight short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast on Sunday, likely its largest single test, a day after South Korea and the United States ended joint military drills.

Officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan met in Seoul on Friday for talks on North Korea amid signs the isolated country is preparing to conduct a nuclear test for the first time since 2017.

At least one person confirmed to have Covid-19 has died in North Korea and hundreds of thousands have shown fever symptoms, state media said on Friday, offering hints at the potentially dire scale of country's first confirmed outbreak of the pandemic.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile Sunday, Seoul said, resuming a weapons-testing blitz after a month-long lull during the Beijing Winter Olympics, with the world's attention now focused on Ukraine.

North Korea on Sunday tested its most powerful missile since 2017, ramping up the firepower for its record-breaking seventh launch this month as Seoul warned nuclear and long-range tests could be next.

North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) on Monday from an airport in its capital city of Pyongyang, South Korea's military reported, the fourth test this month to demonstrate its expanding missile arsenal.

North Korea fired a suspected submarine-launched ballistic missile into the sea on Tuesday, the South's military said, the nuclear-armed country's latest advance in weapons technology and one that could give it a second-strike capability.

North Korea said on Sunday the United Nations Security Council applied double standards over military activities among UN member states, state media KCNA said, amid international criticism over its recent missile tests.

North Korea has successfully fired a new anti-aircraft missile, state media said Friday, as the United Nations Security Council prepares to meet in response to a recent flurry of weapons tests by the nuclear-armed nation.