<p>North Korea fired a device into the sea early Thursday, the South's military said, in what could be its first ballistic missile test during the Biden administration.</p>.<p>Seoul's joint chiefs of staff said in a statement that the "unidentified projectile" was launched into the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea.</p>.<p>No further details of the device type, or how many were fired in total, were immediately available.</p>.<p>The nuclear-armed North is banned from developing ballistic missiles under UN Security Council resolutions.</p>.<p>But it has made rapid progress in its capabilities under leader Kim Jong Un, testing missiles capable of reaching the entire continental United States as tensions mounted in 2017.</p>.<p>Thursday's incident comes after Pyongyang fired two short-range, non-ballistic missiles in a westerly direction towards China at the weekend.</p>.<p>That followed a visit to the region by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss alliance and security issues in the region, with the North seen as a central threat.</p>
<p>North Korea fired a device into the sea early Thursday, the South's military said, in what could be its first ballistic missile test during the Biden administration.</p>.<p>Seoul's joint chiefs of staff said in a statement that the "unidentified projectile" was launched into the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea.</p>.<p>No further details of the device type, or how many were fired in total, were immediately available.</p>.<p>The nuclear-armed North is banned from developing ballistic missiles under UN Security Council resolutions.</p>.<p>But it has made rapid progress in its capabilities under leader Kim Jong Un, testing missiles capable of reaching the entire continental United States as tensions mounted in 2017.</p>.<p>Thursday's incident comes after Pyongyang fired two short-range, non-ballistic missiles in a westerly direction towards China at the weekend.</p>.<p>That followed a visit to the region by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss alliance and security issues in the region, with the North seen as a central threat.</p>