Together and independently, the Untied States, Japan and the Republic of Korea issued harshly-worded condemnations, and warnings, after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea test fired two mid-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday.

The "deeply upset" United Nations, which declared Pyongyang's act "seriously damages regional peace and stability" convened emergency closed-door consultations of the UN Security Council, where the US and its allies pushed hard for harsher sanctions against the DPRK.

It remains to be seen what degree of consensus can be reached, and whether or not the new, more stringent sanctions Washington, Tokyo and Seoul are calling for eventually get the UN's seal of approval. Unanimity is out of the question since the Security Council members disagree on the best approach to make DPRK leader Kim Jong-un behave.