A TV screen shows a news program reporting with footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 27. AP-Yonhap

North Korea's launch of a short-range ballistic missile toward the Yellow Sea, located between China and the Korean Peninsula, does not pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on Thursday.

"We are aware of the ballistic missile launch and are consulting closely with our allies and partners. While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of the DPRK's unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs," it said, referring to weapons of mass destruction. (Reuters)