"A missile was launched today at around 10:15 am (0115 GMT)," the spokesman said. "But we don't know any more details."

Land, Infrastructure and Transport minister Chikage Ogi announced the missile launch at the end of a parliamentary committee session, a transport ministry spokesman said.

"I just received a preliminary report that North Korea seems to have fired a surface-to-vessel missile at 10:15 am, that the launch site was Hwajinri in Pyongannamdo (province) on the opposite side (of the Korean Peninsula) from the previous launch site and that its range was 60 kilometres (38 miles) like the previous time," the spokesman quoted Ogi as saying.

Only one missile was launched, and it was thought likely to have been a Chinese-made Silkworm missile, Jiji quoted government sources as saying.

South Korea's defense ministry said it was still checking the reports while Seoul's stock market took the launch in its stride, holding steady following the reports.

North Korea test-fired short-range anti-ship missiles on February 24 and March 10.

Speculation has been rife in the Japanese media that North Korea would test fire another missile around the time of Japan's placing into orbit last Friday of its first spy satellites, a move denounced by Pyongyang as a "hostile act" that could spark a new arms race.

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