SEOUL – North Korea has fired a ballistic missile, according to South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, Japanese and US government officials.
“North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile eastward from the vicinity of Pyongsong, South Pyongan Province, at dawn today,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, as cited by Yonhap news agency. South Korea and the US were analyzing the missile’s trajectory, it added.
The Pentagon later said it detected a “probable” missile launch.
“We detected a probable missile launch from North Korea. We are in the process of assessing the situation and will provide additional details when available,” the Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning told media.
The White House said that the US President Donald Trump had been already briefed on the new Pyongyang’s launch when the missile was still in the air.
The North Korean missile has apparently landed in waters off Japan within the country’s exclusive economic zone, the Japanese prime minister’s office tweeted.
Japanese PM ordered an emergency meeting of cabinet ministers, according to Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. Tokyo has also expressed a “strong protest” over the launch.
Following the North Korean launch, the South Korean military staged a “precision strike” missile exercise, Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korea’s military.
The launch, if confirmed, would be the first test conducted by Pyongyang since September, when the North fired a ballistic missile over Japan.
