Seoul - South Korea: North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile off its east coast on Tuesday, officials in South Korea and Japan said, as Seoul opens a major arms fair, spy chiefs meet to discuss the nuclear standoff and South Korea prepares for a space launch.
The North Korean launch would be the latest weapon test by the country, which has pressed ahead with nuclear development in the face of international sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
One ballistic missile was launched about 10: 17 a.m. regional time 9: 17 p.m. on Monday ET from the vicinity of Sinpo, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, where North Korea takes submarines as well as the equipment for test firing submarine-launched ballistic missiles. North Korea has also launched various types of missiles from that area.
Our military is closely monitoring the situation and maintaining readiness posture in close cooperation with the United States, to prepare for possible extra launches, JCS said in a statement.
The Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that two ballistic missile tests had been detected and that it was regrettable that North Korea had conducted a string of missile tests in the past few weeks.
The launch came after intelligence chiefs of the United States, South Korea and Japan were due to meet in Seoul, South Korea to discuss the standoff with North Korea amid other issues, Yonhap news agency reported quoting a government source.
Representatives of hundreds international companies and international militaries gathered in Seoul for the opening ceremonies of the International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition.
It is expected to be South Korea's largest defense exposition ever, with displays of next-generation aircraft, attack helicopters, drones and other advanced weapons as well as Space Rockets and civilian aerospace designs.
South Korea is preparing to test fire its first homegrown space launch vehicle on Thursday.