Japan's Defense Ministry says North Korea fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile on Wednesday afternoon. It's the latest in a series of launches over the past few weeks.

Officials say the missile was launched at 3:31 p.m. Japan time. It flew about 250 kilometers and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers. They say it fell into the Sea of Japan, outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

North Korea has launched more than two dozen missiles in the past week. One was an intercontinental ballistic missile, which triggered a public safety warning in Japan.