North Korea has fired a new ballistic missile that landed in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, just hours before the South Korean leader is due to travel to Tokyo for a rare summit expected to address nuclear-armed Pyongyang.
North Korea has conducted several missile launches this week amid ongoing joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States, which Pyongyang condemns as hostile acts.
Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that North Korea had fired at least one ballistic missile of an unknown type off its east coast.
The Japanese government also confirmed the launch, and the Japanese coast guard announced the fall of the missile, and Reuters reported from the Japanese Defense Ministry that the North Korean missile flew at an altitude of 6,<> kilometers and traveled a thousand kilometers.
Alert
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called a meeting of the National Security Council after Pyongyang's ballistic missile launch, and South Korea's National Security Council held a meeting.
Reuters quoted South Korea's military as saying North Korea's missile tests violated U.N. resolutions, and that President Yoon Suk Yul had ordered the country to maintain a state of alert to North Korean threats.
The coast guard had earlier predicted that the missile would land about an hour after launch, suggesting it was a long-range weapon like intercontinental ballistic missiles.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is heading to Japan for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the first of its kind in more than 10 years.
The summit is part of efforts to overcome historical, political and economic disputes for better cooperation to confront North Korea and other challenges.
As part of these efforts, the two U.S. allies agreed to share real-time tracking of North Korean missile launches and pledged to further strengthen military cooperation.