North Korea conducts its ninth missile test this year
The Japanese government and the South Korean military said Saturday that North Korea has conducted a new missile test, its ninth this year.
The missile was launched towards the east near the capital, Pyongyang.
Then it flew 270 km at an altitude of 560 km before crashing into the sea, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, quoting a military representative, that it could have been a missile similar to the one launched a week ago.
At the same time, experts suspected it was a medium-range missile that could have a radius of 5,550 kilometers.
The test comes just four days before the presidential election in South Korea.
UN resolutions prohibit North Korea, a self-proclaimed nuclear power, from conducting tests of ballistic missiles, some of which can carry nuclear warheads.
Japan's Defense Minister Nobuk Yeshi said the latest series of North Korean tests was "totally unacceptable".
He added that North Korea threatens the security and peace of Japan and the international community.
Experts have speculated that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang may use the escalating Ukraine conflict to put more pressure on the United States to make concrete proposals for new negotiations.
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