South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Sunday that North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast ahead of planned military drills by South Korea and US forces involving an aircraft carrier and a visit to the region by US Vice President Kamala Harris.
South Korea's military said it was a single, short-range ballistic missile fired from the Taechon area of the North Pyongyan province just before 7 am local time.
Japan's defence minister Yasukazu Hamada said Japan estimated it reached maximum altitude of 50 km and may have flown on an irregular trajectory. Hamada said it fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone and there were no reports of problems with shipping or air traffic.
Many of the short-range missiles tested by North Korea in recent years have been designed to evade missile defences by manoeuvring during flight and flying on a lower, depressed trajectory, experts said.
This is the nineteenth launch of a cruise missile, which is an unprecedented pace. As the Ukraine invasion unfolds, Japan delivered a protest through North Korea's embassy in Beijing, Hamada said that the actions of North Korea are a threat to the peace and security of our country, the region, and the international community.
The US Indo-pacific Command said after the launch it was aware of the launch and consulting closely with allies, and reaffirming the US commitment to the defence of South Korea and Japan.
The missile launch highlights the destabilising impact of the DPRK's illegal Weapons of Mass Destruction and ballistic missile programs while we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or our allies.
The launch came ahead of the arrival of the nuclear-powered American aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in South Korea to participate in joint drills with South Korean forces, and ahead of a planned visit to Seoul this week by Harris.