The U.S. State Department has called on North Korea to avoid provocations and return to nuclear talks, after the North fired two presumed short-range ballistic missiles on Sunday.
 
A department official told Yonhap News on Sunday that the United States is "aware" of reports of the North's projectile launches and is assessing the situation.
 
The official then said Washington continues to call on North Korea to avoid provocations, abide by obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolutions, and return to sustained and substantive negotiations so that they can do their part in order to achieve complete denuclearization.
 
The United States gave a similar response to the North's weapons tests on March 9 and 21. 
 
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Sunday that North Korea launched what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles from its eastern coastal city of Wonsan into the East Sea.