North Korea has test-fired a short-range missile on its east coast, adding to heightened tensions over the isolated country's nuclear and rocket programmes.
The missile was fired from near the North Korean coastal town of Wonsan at 5:40pm (2140 AEDT) and flew northeast for about 200 km and then "made contact" with the mainland, South Korea's military said in a statement on Tuesday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has presided over a string of short-range missile launches in recent weeks in what the communist-ruled nation's state media has characterised as a response to UN sanctions imposed for its fourth nuclear test in January.
The US State Department said it was aware of the report of the missile firing.
"North Korea should refrain from actions and rhetoric that raise tensions in the region and comply with its international obligations and commitments," said Katina Adams, a spokeswoman in the State Department's East Asian and Pacific Affairs bureau.
US President Barack Obama will meet South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday to discuss North Korea's nuclear programme, the White House said on Monday.
The meeting on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington will take place the same day Obama talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
