North Korea fires unidentified projectile toward sea, South Korea says

SEOUL - North Korea fired an unidentified projectile toward the sea off its east coast, South Korea's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday, marking what appears to be the latest show of military might by Pyongyang.

North Korea has carried out a series of weapons tests this year, including launching one missile that flew more than 900 kilometers (559 miles) as well as hypersonic missiles.

Seoul's announcement on what could be the fourth missile test over the past month came hours after Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, ruled out dialogue with Washington until the US abandoned what she called its hostile policy.

She repeated a denial that Pyongyang was behind the hacking at crypto exchange Binance after accusations from the FBI.

The apparent missile test also followed a North Korean media report that leader Kim Jong Un visited a naval shipyard building a destroyer and stressed the importance of a powerful naval force.

North Korea's frequent missile tests this year also suggest Pyongyang may be nearing completion of preparations for mass production, potentially including weapons for export to Russia, said Lee Choon-geun, a missile expert and board member at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

"Before mass production and deployment, you typically need many tests," Lee said. "Or they may be looking to export missiles in bulk to Russia, in which case they would need to run a lot of tests before shipping."

- Heejin Kim; Editing by Ed Davies/Reuters