North Korea fired an alleged ballistic missile into the sea on Saturday, South Korean and Japanese military officials said, marking Pyongyang’s ninth missile launch this year. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) confirmed to Yonhap News Agency that a suspected ballistic missile was fired from North Korea’s east coast near Sunan and traveled about 270 kilometers (168 miles) at a maximum altitude of 560 kilometers (348 miles). JCS stated that the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis of the incident. Japan’s Defense Ministry also claimed to have detected “at least one ballistic missile” launch eastward from North Korea at around 8:47 a.m. on Saturday and estimated that it fell outside of Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone. No damage has been reported as a result of the missile firing, the ministry stated. This marks Pyongyang’s ninth reported missile launch of the year, which …