North Korea test-fires 9th missile ahead of South Korean Prez poll

North Korea fired an unidentified projectile, appearing to be a ballistic missile, towards the East Sea on Saturday, said a media report citing South Korea's military.

Notably, the ninth missile launch conducted by Pyongyang this year comes just four days ahead of the Presidential election in South Korea on March 9, Yonhap news agency reported.

"Currently, our military is tracking and monitoring (North Korean) movements regarding the possibility of an additional launch and maintaining a readiness posture," the news agency quoted South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in its report.

The launch comes merely a week after North Korea had test-fired a ballistic missile that it claimed was a "reconnaissance satellite" development test.

As many as nine missile tests since the start of this year have raised concerns that North Korea would continue to engage in provocative acts as it made a veiled threat in January to lift its self-imposed hiatus on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests since late 2017, according to the media outlet.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government has also voiced a protest over the missile test conducted by North Korea, Sputnik reported citing Japan's Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi.