The multiple short range surface-to-ship cruise missiles flew 200 kilometres from the city of Wonsan, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.

The missile launches come a day after the South Korean government said it would halt any further installation of the United States THAAD anti-missile radar until an investigation of its environmental impact was carried out.

The delay could take until the end of the year, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The multiple cruise missile launches also come after North Korea expressed anger at the United Nations Security Council voting on Friday to impose additional sanctions on North Korea for repeated balllistic missile tests.

Cruise missiles are not classified as ballistic tests.

The office of new South Korean President Moon Jae-in was angered to discover the South Korean military had concealed the arrival of four additional THAAD launchers from the United States.

THAAD was declared operational shortly before the South Korean presidential election in late April, with two launchers publicly declared. The incoming government said it was "shocked" to discover, several weeks after Mr Moon took office on May 9, another four THAAD launchers had already been delivered to South Korea.

Mr Moon had called for a parliamentary review of THAAD during his election campaign, and dispatched envoys to China and the United States to discuss the issue after he took office.

The existing THAAD installation will remain in place until the environmental assessment is completed, but the additional four launchers will be put on hold.

The delay to the THAAD rollout was welcomed on the front page of Chinese state newspapers on Thursday.

China, which claims the powerful THAAD radar will monitor Chinese military activity, had heaped pressure on South Korea and imposed unofficial economic sanctions on its companies when the previous government said it would install the US system.

UN Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests.

Pyongyang has conducted missile test-launches five times since Moon took office on May 10.