North Korea fires ballistic missile, South Korea military says

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea to the east of the Korean Peninsula on Monday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said without elaborating.

The launch, which is the first firing of a ballistic missile by North Korea in two months, comes as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting South Korea to attend a conference hosted by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on advancing democracy.

Japan's coast guard also reported the launch of what it said appeared to be a ballistic missile by North Korea and specified that it has already fallen.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul and Mariko Katsumura in Tokyo; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Kim Coghill, Ed Davies)