People watch a TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea's missiles with file image in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- North Korea on Tuesday fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile in the second such launch this month, with the projectile believed to have splashed into waters outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone, Japanese government officials said.

       South Korea's military said North Korea fired an unidentified projectile at around 6:40 a.m. into the sea off its east coast from an inland location.

       Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga instructed government officials to make utmost efforts to analyze the launch and prepare for unforeseeable circumstances, they said.

       The launch came after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into waters within Japan's exclusive economic zone on Sept. 15 in the first test firing of such weapons in nearly six months.

       According to Japan's analysis, the two missiles reached an altitude of about 50 kilometers and flew around 750 km before falling in waters off the Noto Peninsula.

       Their launch raised fresh alarm in Japan as it prepares to see a new government following the leadership election of its biggest ruling party on Wednesday.

       North Korea has said the Sept. 15 launch was a test of a "railway-borne missile system" and that the objective was to strike a target area 800 km off its east coast.

       In New York on Monday, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Kim Song, said its possession of weapons in line with the "righteous right to self-defense" has helped to deter threats from the United States and prevent war on the Korean Peninsula.

       The envoy also urged the United States to give up its "hostile policy" toward Pyongyang. His remarks made in an address to the annual U.N. General Assembly did not touch on the latest launch.

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