President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday called for North Korea to make efforts for dialogue in a more earnest manner, after Pyongyang launched a suspected ballistic missile into the sea in this year's first show of force.

"This morning, North Korea test-fired an unidentified short-range projectile," Moon told a groundbreaking ceremony for a railway at an inter-Korean border town. "Because of this, there are concerns that tensions could rise and a stalemate of inter-Korean relations could further deepen."

But in order to fundamentally overcome this situation, Moon said the South should not give up on dialogue.

"North Korea also should make efforts in a more earnest manner," Moon said.

South Korea's military said North Korea fired what is presumed to be a ballistic missile toward the East Sea earlier in the day.

It marks the North's first projectile launch since the regime fired off a new submarine-launched ballistic missile in October last year. (Yonhap)