People watch a TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea's missile with file footage, at a train station in Seoul, March 16. AP-Yonhap

North Korea launched an apparent long-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea, Thursday, according to the South Korean military.

The North appears to have launched the projectile at an elevated angle, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), which did not provide other details.

The North's move came four days after it fired four projectiles into the Yellow Sea, apparently using a multiple launch rocket system, from Sukchon, north of Pyongyang.

Also last week, the North unsuccessfully launched an apparent long-range missile.

Concerns have persisted that the North could engage in provocative acts down the road as it made a veiled threat in January to lift its years-long self-imposed moratorium on nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. (Yonhap)