South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Saturday proposed a set of tough countermeasures against North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch, including the deployment of additional THAAD launchers, according to his office.

Presiding over an emergency National Security Council (NSC) session, Moon ordered consultations with the United States on ways to bolster "strategic deterrence" against the North, his chief press secretary, Yoon Young-chan, told reporters.

The measures would include a show of the allies' force like a combined ballistic missile exercise and an immediate request for a U.N Security Council meeting to discuss strong sanctions, added Yoon.

Moon convened the NSC meeting shortly after reports of the North's firing of a ballistic missile, which South Korea's military views as an advanced type of ICBM.

Two THAAD interceptor launchers are in operation at a former golf course in Seongju, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, with four others stored at a nearby U.S. military base. American troops here say the THAAD system is a core element in their missile defense against the North's growing threats.  (Yonhap)