North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan according to the South Korean military.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missile launched Thursday flew around 240 kilometers (150 miles) and reached an altitude of 47 kilometers. 

Earlier on Thursday, North Korea warned of "fiercer military responses" to the US enhancing its security presence in the region, and said Washington is taking a "gamble it will regret."

North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said a recent US, South Korea and Japan summit accord, which condemned Pyongyang's missile tests, would make tensions on the Korean Peninsula "more unpredictable."

Just over a week ago the JCS reported Pyongyang had launched a ballistic missile, soon after Japanese authorities also noted a suspected ballistic missile launch. 

Prior to that, North Korea had fired dozens of missiles it said as a response to a major combined aerial military exercise conducted by the United States and South Korea.

kb/aw (AP, Reuters)