North Korea accused of firing suspected ballistic missile into sea

North Korea on Saturday fired a suspected ballistic missile into the sea, according to its neighbors' militaries, apparently extending its streak of weapons tests this year amid a prolonged freeze in nuclear negotiations with the United States.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected a single launch of a presumed ballistic missile from an area near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang toward the country's eastern waters, but it didn't immediately say how far the weapon flew. Japan's Defense Ministry also assessed the weapon as possibly ballistic.

Japan's Coast Guard issued a warning to vessels that an object it described as a potential ballistic missile possibly landed in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, but there were no immediate reports of damages.