N Korea launches ballistic missile off coast: S Korea

The launch came two days after South Korea, the US and Japan ended their new trilateral drills that North Korea calls a provocation.

The launch is the North's first weapons firing in five days.

Last Wednesday, North Korea launched what it called a multi-warhead missile in the first known launch of a developmental, advanced weapon meant to defeat US and South Korean missile defences.

North Korea said the launch was successful but South Korea dismissed the North's claim as deception to cover up a failed launch.

The South Korea-US-Japanese "Freedom Edge" drill drew a US aircraft carrier and destroyers, fighter jets and helicopters from the three countries.

The training involved missile defence, anti-submarine and maritime interdiction drills.

In recent weeks, North Korea has floated numerous rubbish-carrying balloons toward South Korea in what it has described as a tit-for-tat response to South Korean activists sending political leaflets via their own balloons.