Britain, Germany and France have asked the United Nations Security Council to meet behind closed doors on Thursday on North Korea's latest missile launches, diplomats said.

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles early on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, only days after Pyongyang launched two similar missiles intended to pressure South Korea and the United States to stop upcoming military drills.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres believed the missile launches were "just another reminder of the importance of restarting talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.