The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 10:15 a.m. It did not provide other details, reports Yonhap news agency.

"While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the U.S.," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters as quoted by the news agency.

Interestingly, the missile was launched a day after North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui warned of a "fiercer" response to US plans to strengthen its regional presence on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida said North Korea launched a ballistic missile Friday that likely fell within Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan.

He condemned the act and called it "totally unacceptable", reports Kyodo news agency.

"North Korea is repeating provocations at an unprecedented pace and they are totally unacceptable," Kishida told reporters as quoted by the Japanese news agency in Thailand's capital Bangkok, adding there were no reports of damage to aircraft or vessels.