TOKYO, September 1. /ITAR-TASS/. North Korea has fired a short-range ballistic missile in the Sea of Japan, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Monday with reference to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea.

The type of the missile has not been specified yet. According to South Korean military, the launch took place at 10:30 local time (01:30 UTC). The missile flew about 220 km and fell in the sea.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff also noted that ahead of the missile test, Pyongyang did not declare the area of the Sea of Japan closed for sailing and civil aviation flights. In addition, the south Korean military pointed to the fact that the missile was launched from the territory of the northern Chagang Province bordering China. Pyongyang had not launched any missiles from that area previously.

Since the beginning of the year, North Korea conducted 18 tests of short-range ballistic missiles.