South Korea's Defense Ministry said late Sunday North Korea launched a missile that landed outside the country's exclusive economic zone.

Iran PressAsia: North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile on Sunday, Japan's Coast Guard and the South Korean military said, as Pyongyang condemned U.S.-led military shows of force as tantamount to "a preview of a nuclear war".

The missile was launched towards the sea off North Korea's east coast, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The move comes days after a senior South Korean official said Pyongyang could soon test fire a new intercontinental ballistic missile. It was not immediately clear what type of missile had been fired, but the weapon's flight time appeared to indicate it may have been a shorter-range missile.