US says wants talks with North Korea, not 'provocations'

The United States on Thursday said it wanted to continue talking with North Korea but called for a halt to "provocations" after a fresh missile test by Pyongyang.

Earlier in the day, North Korea fired two short-range missiles into the sea, its first test since an impromptu meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last month that produced an agreement to resume a working-level denuclearisation dialogue.

"We want to have diplomatic engagement with North Korea and we continue to urge the North Koreans to resolve all the things that the president and Chairman Kim have talked about through diplomacy," US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters in Washington.

But those talks have yet to begin and North Korea warned recently they could be derailed by the US and South Korea's refusal to scrap military exercises scheduled for next month.

"We urge no more provocations and that all parties should abide by their obligations under (United Nations Security Council) resolutions," said Ortagus, who refused to say if she considered the missile tests "provocations."