SEOUL – North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea to the east of the Korean peninsula on March 18, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said without elaborating.

The launch, which is the first firing of a ballistic missile by North Korea in two months, comes as United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting South Korea to attend a conference hosted by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on advancing democracy.

Japan’s Coast Guard also reported the launch of what it said appeared to be a ballistic missile by North Korea and said that the projectile had already fallen. REUTERS