North Korea on Wednesday fired an unidentified projectile eastward toward the Sea of Japan (East Sea), South Korea's military said, Yonhap reports.

The latest launch came after the North fired what the South's military has identified as a short-range missile toward the East Sea last Thursday.

The missile launches came as South Korea and the United States are set to begin their key annual combined exercise next week, which the North has strongly denounced as war rehearsals.