North Korea Launches Projectile Toward Eastern Waters

North Korea launched a projectile toward waters off its eastern coast on Saturday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, while Japan’s Defense Ministry reported detecting at least one suspected missile. The weapon’s precise type and flight details were not immediately clear from the information released by South Korea. The Joint Chiefs said the launch came from the Wonsan area, but initially did not provide details such as how far the projectile traveled. South Korea described it as unidentified, while other accounts characterized it as a ballistic missile. Japan’s Defense Ministry said the missile had splashed down outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. That location was reported by Japan; the available accounts did not include independent tracking data or a settled technical assessment of the weapon. South Korea’s military said it had increased surveillance for possible additional launches and was sharing information with the United States and Japan. The launch came amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas over a mine blast in the Demilitarized Zone that injured three South Korean soldiers. South Korea and the U.S.