Seoul, Sep 13 (IANS): North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, as Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong-un is currently in Russia to hold a rare summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the South Korean military said.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced the launch but gave no further details, pending an analysis, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Pyongyang's latest saber-rattling came as the country's leader departed for Russia on Sunday to meet Putin amid concerns over a possible arms deal that could support Moscow's war in Ukraine.

It remains unknown exactly when and where Kim and Putin would hold their meeting, although some foreign media reports said the summit would likely take place on Wednesday at the Vostochny Cosmodrome space centre in the Amur region.

The North has continued to press ahead with weapons tests in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions banning the country from launches using ballistic missile technology.

The country last fired two short-range ballistic missiles on August 30.