President Yoon Suk-yeol condemned North Korea's latest barrage of missile launches, one of them close to South Korean waters, as a de facto violation of the South's territory and ordered swift action to make the North pay for the provocations.

Yoon also called on the military to be ready against additional and high-level provocations by North Korea as he presided over an emergency National Security Council meeting following the launch.

North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, and one of them flew past the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, and toward South Korean waters in an unprecedented provocation since the division of the Korean Peninsula, according to the South's military.

"President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered that strict measures be taken swiftly to ensure North Korea pays a clear price for its provocation," his office said in a press release after the meeting.

"He also ordered the military to maintain full readiness to protect the people's lives and safety and readiness against the possibility of additional and high-intensity provocations by North Korea in the future," it added. (Yonhap)