North Korea launched an unidentified projectile, suspected to be a ballistic missile, towards waters off the Korean Peninsula’s eastern coast on Thursday, Japanese and South Korean officials said. According to Japan’s defence ministry, an alert was issued through the coast guard at 5.08pm local time, advising vessels to remain alert for possible falling debris, Japan’s NK News reported.A second alert, issued 11 minutes later, said the missile appeared to have “already fallen”, indicating it was unlikely to have been a long-range missile.The projectile fired by North Korea was a possible ballistic missile, the Japan Coast Guard said.If confirmed, the launch would mark North Korea’s third missile test this month. Pyongyang previously conducted short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) launches on 6 August and 12 August. South Korea’s military also said it detected the launch of an unidentified projectile from North Korea on Thursday, with the object travelling towards waters off the Korean Peninsula’s eastern coast, Yonhap news agency reported. The reported launch came a day after Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, dismissed US president Donald Trump’s decision to scale back military exercises with South Korea, saying the drills remained provocative despite the reduction.More follows