North Korea announced on Sunday that it had conducted an "important, final-stage" test to develop a spy satellite, which it seeks to complete by April 2023, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
And the Korean News Agency reported that the experiment, which was conducted at the Sohae satellite launch site in the northwestern town of Dongchang-ri, was aimed at reviewing North Korea's ability to image satellites, data transmission and ground control systems.
Earlier in the day, Seoul and Tokyo confirmed that Pyongyang had fired two ballistic missiles into the sea off the peninsula's east coast.
Despite imposing an international embargo and sanctions on it, North Korea conducted an unprecedented number of missile tests this year.
And last November, North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that Japanese officials said had enough range to reach the US mainland, and it landed just 200 km off Japan.
In the past few weeks, tension has escalated across the border between the two Koreas, raising fears of direct clashes, while South Korea and Japan have strengthened their defensive measures, with frequent missile launches by Pyongyang, which the United States and its allies suspect is preparing for a new nuclear test.