North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Wednesday (Aug 12) toward the sea off the Korean Peninsula's east coast, South Korea's military said.

The missile appeared to have landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone in the sea, NHK reported.

North Korea fired the missile from the Wonsan area at around 6am (5am, Singapore time), South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

South Korea's military had stepped up surveillance and was maintaining readiness for possible additional launches, while closely sharing information with the United States and Japan, it said.

The launch comes as South Korea and the United States plan to conduct major joint military drills from Aug 17 to 27 to counter North Korea's evolving nuclear and weapons capabilities. Pyongyang has in previous years denounced the annual drills as a provocation.

On Tuesday, North Korean state media condemned Japan's latest defence white paper as a document aimed at reviving militarism, saying Tokyo was using what it called an unfounded portrayal of Pyongyang as a security threat to justify an arms buildup.

North Korea has conducted ⁠a series of tests this year, including short-range ballistic missiles, artillery rockets and other tactical weapons.

Last week, North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile towards the sea, according to the South Korean military.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow used a North Korean ballistic missile during a Russian attack on Tuesday that killed seven workers at a Ukrainian steel plant in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

Source: Reuters

– Agencies