North Korea fired an “unidentified projectile” into the Yellow Sea on Tuesday, according to South Korea’s military.
In a statement, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch was detected off North Korea’s west coast into the body of water known in South Korea as the West Sea.
The South Korean military did not immediately provide further details about the projectile or the distance travelled.
The launch comes about a month after North Korea conducted a test involving multiple short-range ballistic missiles. At the time, Pyongyang said the exercise was aimed at verifying the “characteristics and power of a cluster bomb warhead.”
The latest development also follows reports by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency that Chinese President Xi Jinping could visit North Korea this week, citing unnamed government sources.
Neither Beijing nor Pyongyang has officially confirmed the reported visit.
North Korea has continued to expand its weapons testing activities despite international sanctions and repeated warnings from the United States, South Korea and Japan.
The Korean Peninsula remains one of the world’s most heavily militarised regions, with tensions frequently rising over missile launches and military exercises.
