(CNN)North Korea fired a projectile into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, on Wednesday morning, US and South Korean officials said.
The United States believes the projectile was likely a ballistic missile, according to a US official. It is one of several the country has test-fired in recent months.
The projectile was launched at 6:42 a.m. Seoul time, from a site in the vicinity of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said. It flew a distance of around 60 kilometers, South Korean officials said.
The North Koreans use Sinpo shipyard for their submarine activity, and US satellites have observed increased activity there in recent days, a second US official said.
US Pacific Command said it detected and tracked a North Korean missile launch at 11:42 a.m. Hawaii time April 4, according to a statement. Pacific Command's initial assessment is that the missile was a KN-15 medium range ballistic missile.
"The North American Aerospace Defense Command determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America," said Cmdr. Dave Benham, spokesman for US Pacific Command.
The Japanese government estimated the projectile did not land within its exclusive economic zone, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters in a briefing Wednesday morning.
The United States has grown increasingly wary of the pace of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs as the regime has test-fired several ballistic missiles in the first two months of this year.
A senior White House official on Tuesday said: "The clock has now run out, and all options are on the table," pointing to the failure of successive administrations' efforts to negotiate an end to the country's nuclear program.
North Korea has successfully detonated nuclear weapons in the past, but experts said the country still hasn't developed the technology to equip a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead.
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