According to South Korea's military, the DPRK conducted large-scale live-fire artillery exercises on Tuesday to mark its army anniversary.
North Korea has an air base in Wonsan and missiles have also been tested there.
In a separate statement, the South Korean President's Office said a meeting had been held to discuss the situation.
Envoys from Japan, the USA and South Korea have gathered in Tokyo to discuss North Korea amid concern it may carry out another nuclear or missile test.
During a White House lunch with ambassadors of United Nations Security Council member states on Monday, the US president called unacceptable the "status quo in North Korea".
The nuclear-powered submarine USS Michigan approaches to join the USA aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in drills near the Korean Peninsula, at Busan port in Busan, South Korea.
At a national meeting held Monday, the DPRK again warned the United States that it would stage preemptive nuclear strikes against American forces.
US President Donald Trump sent the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group to the Korean Peninsula earlier this month as a warning to North Korea and a show of solidarity with US allies. South Korea's navy is planning to hold joint naval drills with US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson battle group, which has trained with Japanese destroyers in recent days, around the weekend.
Japan's Foreign Ministry announced that China's envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, was arriving in Tokyo on Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi that may take place later this week.
Kanasugi said after talks with his US and South Korean counterparts that they all agreed China should take a concrete role to resolve the crisis and it could use an oil embargo as a tool to press the North. We believe China has a very, very important role to play.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, but an official from Seoul's Defense Ministry couldn't confirm such details. It is expected to arrive by the end of April. It did not elaborate.
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But the timing, as the United States increases its military presence in the area, allows North Korea to remind its opponents that it could cause crippling damage with conventional artillery to highly populated areas in South Korea.
The drill comes as tensions in the region are already heightened.
"Both exercises demonstrate a shared commitment to security and stability in Northeast Asia", the U.S. Seventh Fleet said in a statement, "as well as the U.S. Navy's inherent flexibility to combine with allied naval forces in response to a broad range of situations".
All 100 USA senators have been invited to a briefing on North Korea by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to take place Wednesday at the White House. "If there is a partner Trump needs to discuss with foremost over the North Korea problem, it's not Xi Jinping or Shinzo Abe, but the leader of South Korea".
He added, "The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs".
The official China Daily said on Tuesday it was time for Pyongyang and Washington to take a step back from harsh rhetoric and heed the voices of reason calling for a peaceful resolution.
"Judging from their recent words and deeds, policymakers in Pyongyang have seriously misread the United Nations sanctions, which are aimed at its nuclear/missile provocations, not its system or leadership", the newspaper said in an editorial.
The article also said the North Korean officials were "perilously overestimating their own power".
While the USS Michigan arrived at the South Korean port of Busan for what was described as a routine visit to rest crew and load supplies, the U.S. is preparing for exercises with South Korea and Japan.
USS Michigan is one of four Ohio-class submarines that the Navy has converted from carrying nuclear ballistic missiles to conventional guided missiles.Its homeport is Bremerton, Wash., but it is forward deployed from Guam. The administration has settled on a strategy emphasizing increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, rather than trying to overthrow Kim Jong Un's isolated government or use military force.
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