As tensions heighten in the Korean Peninsula, North Korea says it has fired another short-range missile off its east coast.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported the missile launch Friday.

The development comes as the latest in a series of similar provocative measures taken by Pyongyang after North Korea tested a nuclear device on Monday.

The nuclear detonation sparked global outcries with the UN Security Council moving to impose sanctions against the communist regime.

Earlier Friday North Korea threatened to take fresh steps to defend itself if world powers impose sanctions for the test.

On Wednesday, Pyongyang renounced the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953 and warned it could launch strikes on the South if its ships were inspected by international forces looking for nuclear material.

MD/MD