According to officials in both South Korea and Japan, North Korea has fired at least one suspected ballistic missile into the waters off the east coast of the Korean peninsula.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Japan's Ministry of Defense and the Japanese Prime Minister's Office all said the launch of a possible ballistic missile had been detected.
It said that the Coast Guard sent an alert to vessels at 6: 56 a.m. Sunday 5: 56 p.m. eastern time Saturday. If they see any falling objects, they are advised not to approach them and report relevant information to the Japan Coast Guard.
The missile was believed to have landed in the sea, according to an update 15 minutes later.
A USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group arrived in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan on Friday after the apparent missile launch came after the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group arrived in the USSoutheastern port city of Busan. The US and South Korean navy are expected to conduct combined drills this month. The launch comes shortly before US Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to visit Japan and South Korea. She will stop in Tokyo first to attend a state funeral for Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe before going to South Korea.