North Korea has reportedly conducted a short-range missile test on the same day that it announced the death of long-time leader Kim Jong Il.
The test occurred off North Korea's east coast, according to a report from South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
Two South Korean military officials wouldn't publicly confirm the report, but they said that any such test would have minimal ties to Kim Jong Il's death.
CTV's Beijing Bureau Chief Ben O'Hara-Byrne said the North Korean military has great power and may have chosen to go ahead with planned tests even when it knew the news of Kim Jong Il's death was being announced.
"Keep in mind, in North Korea the military reigns supreme to the detriment of everybody else there. They eat when others don't," O'Hara-Byrne told CTV's Canada AM on Monday morning.
"Even on a day with such big news coming out, whether the military knew or not, it seems they went ahead with this test anyway."
Kim Jong Il died Saturday after suffering a heart attack. He was 69 years old.
Groomed for power for many years, Kim Jong Il took over as North Korean leader from his father, Kim Il Sung, in 1994.
North Korea issued a statement Monday indicating the people and the military "have pledged to uphold the leadership of comrade Kim Jong Un," the twenty-something son of the recently deceased leader.
With files from The Associated Press
