SEOUL -North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile towards the sea Thursday morning, Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korea’s military. The agency said the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported the missile was fired toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, in the latest act of defiance from Pyongyang amid acute tensions with Seoul and Washington. The South’s military gave no immediate details of the launch, the agency said. Japan confirmed the launch, with the office of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida tweeting at 1034 GMT that “North Korea launched what appears to be a ballistic missile.” Pyongyang has opened the year with a flurry of weapons tests, including what its state media has claimed are nuclear-capable underwater drones and the launch of two intercontinental ballistic missiles.