Responding to reports of North Korean missile launches, the United States called Thursday on the communist nation to restrain itself from taking such a provocative step.

 "We are of closely monitoring the situation on the Korean Peninsula," the State Department's spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said at a press briefing. "We continue, as we often do, to urge North Korea to exercise restraint and take steps to improve its relations with its neighbors."

The North fired four short-range ballistic missiles in an apparent test off its southeast coast on Thursday (local time), according to informed defense sources.

The missiles are believed to be a Scud type with a range of more than 200 km, they added.

Paski would not discuss such an intelligence-related matter.

She reiterated that the U.S. works very closely with its regional partners to deal with the North Korea problem. (Yonhap)