North Korea launched an apparent ballistic missile early Wednesday — Pyongyang’s second in less than a week — with the weapon believed to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The Defense Ministry in Tokyo said it had not confirmed that the missile had fallen inside Japan’s EEZ, an area that extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from its shores.

The South Korean military also confirmed the launch, saying the missile had been fired eastward.

The launch followed Pyongyang’s test of a ballistic missile last week in a show of force, a day after saying it would pursue unspecified “additional military options” in response to Japan’s growing defense capabilities.

That launch was the North’s first since leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the tests of a tactical ballistic missile as well as new multiple rocket launchers and other weapons on June 25.

Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said Aug. 5 that Pyongyang would not remain a “passive onlooker” to what she described as Japan’s accelerating transformation into a military power, state-run media reported.

“War criminal state Japan’s possession of the capability for preemptive attack is a grave threat destroying global peace and security,” she said, referring to Tokyo’s efforts to acquire long-range strike capabilities, including a recent test of Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles from a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer.

Tokyo said North Korea’s military activities “pose an even more grave and imminent threat to Japan’s national security than ever before” in its annual defense white paper released Tuesday.