"The Japanese news reports (on the North's missile launch) are reliable," it quoted an official at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae as saying.

"We've got our own information about the North's missile launch, although we are not in a position to officially confirm the report," the official said.

The official stopped short of explaining the reason why the government could not confirm it, Yonhap said.

The apparent missile test follows an assessment by the United States director of the Defense Intelligence Agency last week that North Korea is believed capable of arming a long-range missile with a nuclear warhead.

It also said North Korea has the ability to deploy a two-stage intercontinental missile that could successfully hit US territory.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK said Sunday the missile was fired from the east coast of North Korea and flew about 100 kilometers (62 miles) until it fell into the sea.

Jiji Press said the test came at about 8:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday) and only consisted of one missile. According to Kyodo News, Japan was informed of the test by the US military and cabinet members were told to prepare for an emergency.

A Japanese foreign ministry official said only that Tokyo had "unconfirmed reports" about a missile.

In Washington, the White House said Sunday North Korea had apparently fired a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan and called on US allies to work with Washington to demonstrate that Pyongyang's actions are "inappropriate."

"It appears that there was a test of a short-range missile by the North Koreans and it landed in the Sea of Japan," White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said in an interview with CNN's "Late Edition."

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