By Soo-hyang Choi and Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) -North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;launched two more ballistic&nbsp;missiles off its east coast on Monday, with the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un saying&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's use of the&nbsp;Pacific&nbsp;as a "firing range" would depend on the behaviour of U.S. forces.
The launches come just two days&nbsp;after&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;fired an intercontinental ballistic&nbsp;missile&nbsp;(ICBM) into the sea off Japan's west coast, prompting the United States to hold joint air exercises with South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;and separately with Japan on Sunday.
North&nbsp;Korea's state media confirmed it fired two projectiles from a multiple rocket launcher, aiming at targets 395 km (245 miles) and 337 km (209 miles) away.
"The 600 mm multiple rocket launcher mobilised in the firing ... is a means of tactical nuclear weapon," capable of "paralysing" an enemy airfield,&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's KCNA state news agency said.
Analysts said the warning about the&nbsp;Pacific&nbsp;being a&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean firing range from leader Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, could signal plans to fire more&nbsp;missiles further, possibly in the direction of the U.S. territory of Guam.
Japan's defence ministry said the two&nbsp;missiles launched on Monday at around 2200 GMT, reached maximum altitudes of about 100 km and 50 km.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he had requested an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting over the&nbsp;tests, and Jiji news agency said the gathering was set for 2000 GMT.
But prospects for a new round of U.N. sanctions appear slim given the previous vetoes by Russia and China amid the Ukraine crisis and a Sino-U.S. feud over a Chinese balloon in American skies.
South&nbsp;Korea's military condemned the launches as a "grave provocation" that should stop immediately. President Yoon Suk-yeol's office said it held a National Security Council meeting to review the&nbsp;tests and discuss countermeasures.
South&nbsp;Korea's foreign ministry announced sanctions on four individuals and five entities linked to&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's weapons programmes over the&nbsp;latest&nbsp;ICBM and&nbsp;missile&nbsp;tests, in what it called its fastest-ever such response to the&nbsp;North's provocations.
The ministry said its nuclear envoy had phone calls with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts during which they agreed that&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's provocations cannot be justified and it would face "consequences of self-indulgence".
The U.S. Indo-Pacific&nbsp;Command highlighted the "destabilising impact" of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's unlawful weapons programmes, while U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric urged Pyongyang to halt such provocations banned under Security Council resolutions, and resume denuclearisation dialogue.
TENSIONS RISING
North&nbsp;Korean leader Kim's sister warned against increased presence of U.S. strategic military assets following the joint air drills with its Asian allies over the weekend.
"The frequency of using the&nbsp;Pacific&nbsp;as our firing range depends upon the U.S. forces' action character," she said in a statement carried by KCNA.
The United States and South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;are set to hold simulated nuclear tabletop exercises aimed at improving operations of U.S. nuclear assets this week, as well as annual springtime Freedom Shield field training in March.
North&nbsp;Korea's foreign ministry said last week it would respond to the exercises with "unprecedentedly persistent, strong counteractions".
"Tension on the peninsula is likely to reach its peak in coming months as&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;is accelerating its military actions with higher frequency, and her statement indicates that it would continue impromptu&nbsp;missile&nbsp;tests using the&nbsp;Pacific&nbsp;as its shooting range," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean Studies in Seoul.
Hong Min, a senior fellow at the South's&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;Institute for National Unification, said Kim's mention of the&nbsp;Pacific&nbsp;suggested the&nbsp;North&nbsp;would fire longer-range&nbsp;missiles more often.
Monday's&nbsp;missile&nbsp;launch is the&nbsp;North's third known weapons&nbsp;test&nbsp;this year&nbsp;after&nbsp;it fired an unprecedented number of&nbsp;missiles last year, including ICBMs capable of striking anywhere in the United States.
Kim Yo Jong also criticised some South&nbsp;Korean experts who questioned the reliability of the ICBMs saying Saturday's "sudden"&nbsp;test&nbsp;required nine hours of preparations, calling them "disgusting" and "stupid".
The launch took place "at the most appropriate time" considering weather conditions and&nbsp;after&nbsp;U.S. and South&nbsp;Korean scout planes went away, she said.
"They had better rack their brains to take measures to defend themselves, instead of doubting or worrying about other's technology," she said. "We affirm once again that there is no change in our will to make the worst maniacs escalating the tensions pay the price for their action."
(Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi and Hyonhee Shin in Seoul, Chang-ran Kim in Tokyo; Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Washington and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Diane Craft and Lincoln Feast.)

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North Korea fires two more missiles into its Pacific 'firing range'