ANKARA

North Korea on Saturday fired a suspected submarine-launched ballistic missile toward its eastern waters, the South Korean military said.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the short-range missile was launched from the eastern port city of Sinpo to the Sea of Japan at 2.07 p.m. local time (0507GMT) and it flew some 600 kilometers (373 miles) at a top altitude of about 60 km (73 mi), Yonhap News Agency reported.

"The North's recent series of missile launches are acts of serious threat that undermine peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the international community, and a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions," the report cited the military as saying.

Urging Pyongyang to immediately stop the missile launches, it added: "Preparing against the possibility of an additional launch, our military is tracking and monitoring related movements, and maintaining a full readiness posture."

With the latest launch, North Korea has fired 15 missiles since the beginning of this year.