The presidential office said on Saturday it was holding an urgent meeting of defense and intelligence chiefs following North Korea's firing of short-range projectiles into the East Sea earlier in the day.

In a message sent out to reporters, presidential spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said participants of the meeting were monitoring the situation and that Seoul was also sharing information with the U.S.

The meeting included Director of National Security Chung Eui-yong, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon and first deputy director of the National Security Office Kim You-geun.

An official at the presidential office described the meeting as an emergency meeting and not a meeting of the National Security Council's standing committee, adding the outcome will be announced after the discussion ends.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced earlier that the North had fired several short-range projectiles from the Hodo Peninsula area, north of Wonsan in Gangwon Province, towards the northeastern direction between 9:06 and 9:27 a.m., and that the projectiles flew some 70 to 200 kilometers into the East Sea.