South Korea: North Korea fired unidentified projectile

North Korea has fired at least one unidentified projectile, South Korea's military said Thursday, adding yet another complication into the stalled negotiations with the United States and peace talks with South Korea.

The launch took place at 4:30 p.m., in the Sino-ri area in the country's western Pyongbuk province, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Sino-ri is believed to be home to one of about 20 undeclared missile facilities that Pyongyang operates throughout the country, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Beyond Parallel program.

A South Korean official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the projectile was believed to have flown around 420 km (260 miles).

“You don’t know what missile it is just from how far it flew,” said Yang Uk, a senior research fellow at the Korea Defence and Security Forum.

“But one thing is clear - there’s no doubt that it is a missile.”

Such a range would likely be longer than most of the weapons launched on Saturday, when North Korea fired a number of rockets from its east coast into the ocean, sharply raising tension on the Korean peninsula at a time of stalemate in talks between North Korea and the United States.

North Korea has particularly been vocal in its opposition to recent joint military drills between the US and South Korea. Seoul and Washington previously held large-scale military exercises in the spring, but this year chose to scale those back to "reduce tension" with North Korea.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim agreed at a summit with Kim last year to "make joint efforts to alleviate the acute military tension and practically eliminate the danger of war on the Korean Peninsula."

Moon and Kim's meeting was part of a flurry of diplomacy intended to reduce tensions on the Peninsula, as Washington and Pyongyang traded heated threats amid North Korea's repeated missile and nuclear tests.

North Korea's test pause is among the most important factor that has enabled negotiations between Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington. But a renewed round of missile launches could force the US to adjust course, as Trump has hinted that it could imperil the progress made between the two sides.