North Korea today launched a ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
To be fired - explains the Joint Staff of South Korea - would have been a short-range ballistic missile (srbm), launched from the Tongchang-ri area, on the western coast of the peninsula, at 11:05 local time (3 :05 in Italy).
The area is home to the North's primary long-range rocket launch site.
Pyongyang has increased its provocations in recent days, while periodic joint military exercises are underway between the United States and Seoul, which North Korea defines as "preparations for a war of aggression".