SEOUL , South Korea ( CNN ) -- U.S. satellite imagery has spotted `` vehicle activity '' at a North Korean ballistic missile site , two Defense Department officials said Friday . South Korean soldiers ride in armored vehicles during a drill Friday in the border city of Paju . This activity is similar to that before a long-range missile launch by North Korea earlier this year . It comes amid growing world concern over North Korea 's latest nuclear test and test-firings of short-range missiles . Officials said the imagery shows vehicles used to transport Taepodong 2 missiles were spotted , but no missile parts were seen . The Taepodong 2 missile is a long-range missile that North Korea tested this year . North Korea test-fired a short-range missile Friday off the country 's east coast , a South Korean military source said . It would be the sixth such missile test since the country conducted a nuclear test Monday . Also Friday , North Korea upbraided the U.N. Security Council for slamming its nuclear test , calling the members of the body `` hypocrites '' and warning of `` stronger self-defense countermeasures '' as the world body considers more sanctions against the country . `` There is a limit to our patience , '' the Foreign Ministry said in a combative statement . Watch how the U.S. is responding to the latest launch » . North Korea blasted the Security Council 's condemnations of the nuclear test on Monday and the launch in April of what North Korea called a satellite but other countries called a long-range missile . The North Korean actions are regarded as violations of Security Council Resolution 1718 . Adopted in 2006 after North Korea conducted a nuclear test , the measure imposes sanctions Pyongyang and warns it should `` not conduct any further nuclear test or launch of a ballistic missile . '' North Korea agreed in 2008 to scrap its nuclear weapons program -- which it said had produced enough plutonium for about seven bombs -- in exchange for economic aid . But the deal foundered over verification and disclosure issues . The Security Council has been working on a new and tougher resolution in response to the latest developments . Watch Hillary Clinton 's warning about `` consequences '' » . `` If the U.N. Security Council will make further provocative actions , this will inevitably lead to the Democratic People 's Republic of Korea 's approach toward adopting stronger self-defensive counter-measures , '' the North Korean statement said . The statement said Resolution 1718 was `` fabricated '' by `` hypocrites . '' `` The recent nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People 's Republic of Korea is the 2,054th one on the Earth . The five permanent members of the U.N. Security council have conducted 99.99 percent of all the nuclear tests , '' the statement said . `` Those countries have posed the biggest nuclear threats to the world . '' Noting that it 's not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Missile Technology Control Regime , North Korea said it `` has a right to conduct as many nuclear tests or missile launches as it wants in the event that the supreme interests of the state are infringed upon . '' Meanwhile , senior Obama administration officials said a high-level U.S. delegation is going to Asia for a series of `` intensive consultations '' on what North Korea 's increasingly alarming behavior means for American security alliances in the region . The goal , they said , is to persuade Pyongyang that going back to the negotiating table is the only option . North Korea has been negotiating over its nuclear program with the United States , Russia , China , Japan and South Korea in six-party talks . Seriously complicating matters is the health of ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il . Officials have said nobody knows who is running North Korea , one of the most opaque and mysterious countries in the world . There is also no clear line of succession in place once Kim dies . iReport.com : A visit to North Korea . South Korean and U.S. forces were placed on their second-highest surveillance alert level Thursday , the joint forces announced . The last time the joint forces raised the `` Watchcon '' surveillance alert was after the 2006 North Korean nuclear test , according to South Korea 's Yonhap News Agency . `` Additional intelligence assets , including personnel , will be deployed while reconnaissance operations over North Korea will increase , '' South Korean defense spokesman Won Tae-jae said , according to Yonhap . He declined to give specific details , the news agency said . CNN 's Barbara Starr in Washington contributed to this report .
Satellite spies `` vehicle activity '' at a ballistic missile site , U.S. officials say . North Korean Foreign Ministry blasts U.N. Security Council as `` hypocrites '' North Korea test-fires sixth short-range missile this week , South Korean source says . Joint forces in South Korea elevate surveillance alert in response to North 's threat .