The launch got here as Pyongyang marks the anniversary of the demise of chief Kim Jong Un’s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il.
South Korea has accused the North of firing a short-range ballistic missile amid tensions within the peninsula.
Sunday’s launch got here as North Korea condemned the United States-led army’s reveals of drive, together with the arrival of a submarine in South Korea as tantamount to “a preview of a nuclear war”.
The missile was launched from the Pyongyang space in direction of the East Sea at round 10:38pm (13:38 GMT) on Sunday and flew about 570km (354 miles) earlier than falling into the ocean, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Employees (JCS) stated, referring to the physique of water also referred to as the Sea of Japan.
The launch adopted warnings from officers in Seoul and Tokyo that nuclear-armed North Korea was getting ready to test-fire a missile, together with certainly one of its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) this month.
Japan’s Ministry of Defence additionally stated North Korea launched “what appears to be a ballistic missile”, with its coastguard including that it appeared to have already fallen.
![South Korean and Japanese naval ships conduct missile defense drill with US Navy in the Sea of Japan July 16, 2023. [Samantha Oblander/US Navy/Handout via Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/korea-1702838812.jpeg?w=770&resize=770%2C513)
JCS stated Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have “closely shared information regarding North Korea’s ballistic missile”, which was launched two days after the US and South Korea held their second session of the Nuclear Consultative Group in Washington on Friday, the place they mentioned nuclear deterrence in the event of conflict with the North.
A spokesperson for the North’s Defence Ministry on Sunday slammed the allies’ plans to increase a key annual joint army drill subsequent 12 months to incorporate a nuclear operation drill and warned of “a preemptive and deadly counteraction”.
“This is an open declaration on nuclear confrontation to make the use of nuclear weapons against the DPRK a fait accompli,” the assertion carried by the KCNA information company stated, utilizing the official acronym for North Korea.
“Any attempt to use armed forces against the DPRK will face a preemptive and deadly counteraction.”
All of North Korea’s ballistic missile actions are banned by United Nations Safety Council resolutions, although Pyongyang defends them as its sovereign proper to self-defence.
The missile launch additionally got here as Pyongyang marks the anniversary of the demise of chief Kim Jong Un’s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, who died on December 17, 2011.
North Korea final 12 months declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear energy and has repeatedly stated it’ll by no means quit its nuclear programme, which the regime views as important for its survival.
Final month, Pyongyang efficiently put a military spy satellite into orbit. It has since claimed its eye within the sky was already offering photographs of main US and South Korean army websites.
The UN Safety Council has adopted many resolutions calling on North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes because it first carried out a nuclear take a look at in 2006.
Washington and its allies have additionally expressed considerations a couple of potential arms alignment between North Korea and Russia.
They fear that Kim is offering badly wanted munitions to assist Russian President Vladimir Putin wage the struggle in Ukraine in trade for Russian expertise help to improve his nuclear-armed army.
