SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a short-range missile into the sea early Tuesday, Seoul and Tokyo officials said, in the latest weapon tests by Pyongyang that raised questions about the sincerity of its recent offer for talks with South Korea.

In an emergency National Security Council meeting, the South Korean government expressed regret over what it called "a short-range missile launch" by the North. South Korea's military earlier said the object fired from North Korea's mountainous northern Jagang province flew toward the North's eastern sea.

Details of the launch were being anal...