SEOUL, March 19 (AFP) - North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported, the latest in Pyongyang's flurry of launches.

"North Korea fires ballistic missile towards the East Sea," Yonhap reported, citing Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff and referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

The latest launch came just three days after the North fired what it claimed to be a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile.

Pyongyang has been ratcheting up tensions recently as Seoul and Washington are conducting a regular combined military exercise, which it has decried as preparations for a "war of aggression" against it.