North Korea fires unidentified projectile toward the sea, South Korea says

South Korea says North Korea sent an unidentified projectile hurtling toward the sea. The announcement came out of Seoul, which flagged the launch without identifying what flew. There's no word yet on the type, the range or the splashdown point.

That's the full confirmed picture right now. Calling the projectile unidentified leaves the basics open — whether it was a missile, a rocket or something else entirely. AP reported the launch after South Korea's government disclosed it.

What isn't in dispute is the pattern. North Korea has a long record of firing projectiles into the waters around the peninsula, and each one pulls immediate attention from Seoul and its allies.

More detail usually surfaces once South Korea's military finishes its read on the launch. Until then, the only hard fact on the table is the one Seoul put there: something went up, and it went out to sea.