North Korea fires ballistic missile: Seoul

North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, its latest in a series of tests with analysts saying it could have been a submarine-launched weapon.

The "unidentified ballistic missile" was fired from Sinpo into the sea east of the peninsula, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, reports AFP.

"South Korean and US intelligence are closely analysing for additional detail," it added.

Sinpo, where the missile was fired from, is a major naval shipyard and satellite photographs have previously shown submarines at the facility.

The North is known to be developing a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and previously carried out an underwater launch, although analysts said that one was likely to have been from a submerged platform rather than a submarine.