North Korea launched an apparent intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Sunday — its first launch this year — with the missile falling into the Sea of Japan outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The launch, the North's first since it tested a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile on Dec. 18, landed in waters outside the EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from Japan's coast, the Defense Ministry in Tokyo said.

The South Korean military said the launch was of an IRBM-class weapon and traveled some 1,000 km before splashing down.