(ATTN: UPDATES with details from 2nd para)
By Song Sang-ho and Kang Yoon-seung
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired an unidentified projectile eastward Sunday, South Korea's military said, in the recalcitrant regime's eighth show of force this year.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced the launch in a text message sent to reporters, without elaborating.
It came in the midst of a military conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
The North conducted seven rounds of missile tests in January, including an intermediate-range ballistic missile launch.
Speculation has lingered that the North could engage in more provocative actions down the road as it issued a veiled threat last month to lift its yearslong self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests.
Pyongyang appeared to have refrained from additional missile tests during the recently concluded Winter Olympics in Beijing, its traditional ally and key economic supporter.
The Kim Jong-un regime is apparently seeking to strengthen internal solidarity amid a deadlock in nuclear talks with Washington and economic woes aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A news report on North Korea's launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile is aired on a television at Seoul Station on Jan. 30, 2022. South Korea's military said the missile flew about 800 kilometers at a top altitude of 2,000 km. (Yonhap)
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