North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast on Sunday, ahead of planned military drills by South Korean and US forces involving an aircraft carrier and a visit to the region by US Vice President Kamala Harris.
Reuters reports that South Korea’s military said it was a single, short-range ballistic missile fired from near the Taechon area of North Pyongyang Province just before 7 a.m. local time and flew about 600 km (373 miles) at an altitude of 60 km and a speed of Mach 5.
“North Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile is an act of grave provocation that threatens the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and international community,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The statement added that after the launch, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Kim Seung-kyum and the US Forces Korea Commander Paul LaCamera discussed the situation and reaffirmed their readiness to respond to any threat or provocation from North Korea.
According to Reuters report, South Korea’s National Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss response measures and condemned the launch as an apparent violation of the UN Security Council Resolutions and an unjustifiable act of provocation.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who arrived in Seoul late on Saturday from a trip to Britain, the United States and Canada, was briefed on the launch, the presidential office said as quoted by Reuters.
Japan estimated the missile reached maximum altitude at 50 km and may have flown on an irregular trajectory, Japan’s Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said as quoted by Reuters.
The US Indo-pacific Command said it was aware of the launch and consulting closely with allies, in a statement released after the launch, while reaffirming US commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan.
