North Korea fires ballistic missile towards sea off east coast

North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast on Friday, the South Korean military and Japanese coast guard said.

The launch was the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests by the North this year. The isolated country fired two mid-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Sunday, calling it an "important" test for its

spy satellite programme intended to complete by April.

The latest launch was reported both by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Japan's coast guard.