North Korea may have launched a short-range missile toward the Sea of Japan on Sunday morning according to information given to Japan's Defence Agency by the United States military, Japanese news agency Kyodo said, quoting Japanese government sources.

The information, believed to be based on a U.S. early warning satellite and other data, says a missile was launched from North Korea's east coast shortly after 8 am. As of late Sunday afternoon, Japanese government officials said they were trying to verify the report.

The government sources said they believe that even if a missile were launched, it would be of extremely short range, possibly an improved land-to-ship Silkworm missile with a 100-200 kilometer range, or a ballistic missile smaller in size than the short-range Scud missile.

The agency is investigating the case and has relayed the information to the Prime Minister's Office, the Foreign Ministry and other government agencies concerned, the sources said.

Cabinet ministers concerned were informed by the Cabinet Secretariat around 8:30 am that a missile had been launched at 8:10 am, that it had landed in the Sea of Japan at 8:15 am, and that all Cabinet ministers may be asked to assemble in the case of an emergency, the sources said.

The latest developments come amid pressure from the United States and Japan on North Korea to return to stalled negotiations on its nuclear ambitions.