SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — The South Korean news agency says North Korea fired an unidentified missile on Tuesday.

Yonhap said the missile was fired into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.

North Korea has conducted a series of test launches to develop its missile capability and recently threatened to send missiles over western Japan and into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam.

Japan’s military is practicing deploying anti-missile batteries at three U.S. bases in Japan.

The U.S. military says the drills will test the ability of Japanese and U.S. forces to work together and assess firing locations at the bases. They will also allow Japan to practice rapid deployment of its PAC-3 anti-missile system. </s> Alwaght- North Korea has test fired a ballistic missile which landed in the sea of Japan after flying over 700 kilometers, says South Korea.

"North Korea launched a ballistic missile at 5:27 am this morning in Pyongan Province," said the South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The US military tracked the launch, but said it was unlikely an intercontinental ballistic missile, calculating that the missile landed in water 60 miles south of Russia's port city of Vladivostok, CNN reported. Vladivostok is home to the Russian Pacific Fleet.

Following the launch, Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, stressed that it was a violation of UN resolutions and that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had severely condemned it. "North Korea's repeated missile launches are a grave threat to our country and a clear violation of UN resolutions," said Abe.

Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said that the projectile may be a new type of missile, which reached an altitude of more than 2,000 kilometers before falling in the Sea of Japan.

The US Pacific Command has also confirmed that Pyongyang has carried out another missile launch. "US Pacific Command detected and tracked a North Korean missile launch," said an official statement, adding that the tested missile has still not been determined.

Newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-In also condemned the launch as a "reckless provocation.” "The president... expressed deep regret over the North's reckless provocation staged only days after the beginning of the new administration in the South," said spokesman.

Tensions have been on the rise on the Korean Peninsula over the past weeks.

Unsettled by North Korean missile and military nuclear programs, the United States has adopted a war-like posture, sending a strike group and conducting joint military drills with North Korea’s regional adversaries Japan and South Korea.

Pyongyang defends its missile and nuclear programs as a means of protecting the country from US hostility.

This US Navy handout photo obtained April 25, 2017 shows the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) as it transits the Philippine Sea while conducting a bilateral exercise with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force in the Philippine Sea.

In addition to a naval strike group, which includes the large USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, Washington deployed two supersonic bombers over the peninsula during a joint exercise with South Korea’s air force on Monday. The USS Michigan nuclear submarine joined the strike group earlier this week.

In April, the US also deployed a THAAD missile system in South Korea rising tensions over North Korea’s ballistic and nuclear tests. </s> SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — South Korea’s military said North Korea fired an unidentified missile Friday from its capital Pyongyang that flew over Japan before landing in the northern Pacific Ocean.

It was the second aggressive test-flight over the territory of the close U.S. ally in less than a month and it followed the sixth and most powerful nuclear test by North Korea to date on Sept. 3.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile travelled about 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) while reaching a maximum height of 770 kilometres (478 miles).

The missile was launched from Sunan, the site of Pyongyang’s international airport.

North Korea last month used the airport to fire a Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile that flew over northern Japan.

The North then declared it a “meaningful prelude” to containing the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam and the start of more ballistic missile launches toward the Pacific Ocean.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denounced North Korea’s latest launch, saying he was conveying “strong anger” on behalf of the Japanese people.

Suga said Japan “will not tolerate the repeated and excessive provocations.”

The North American Aerospace Defence Command determined the intermediate range missile did not pose a threat to North America. In addition, U.S. Pacific Command said it did not pose a threat to Guam.

South Korean experts said the August launch was Pyongyang’s attempt to make missiles flying over Japan an accepted norm as it seeks to test new missiles and win more military space in the region dominated by its enemies.

The Offices of Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defence said the latest launch posed no immediate threat to Guam or the Marianas.

South Korea’s Defence Ministry said the country’s military conducted a live-fire drill of a Hyunmoo-2 ballistic missile in response to the North’s launch on Friday.

Seoul’s presidential office said President Moon Jae-in has scheduled a National Security Council meeting to discuss the latest launch.

North Korea claimed its latest nuclear test was a detonation of a thermonuclear weapon built for its developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The North flight-tested its Hwasong-14 ICBMs twice in July and analysts say the missiles potentially could reach deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.

North Korea initially flight-tested the Hwasong-12 and Hwasong-14 missiles at highly lofted angles to reduce range and avoid neighbouring countries.

The two launches over Japan indicate North Korea is moving toward conducting launches at angles close to operational as it seeks to test whether the warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry and detonate properly.

North Korea has been accelerating its nuclear weapons development under leader Kim Jong Un, a third-generation dictator in his 30s, who has conducted four of North Korea’s six nuclear tests since taking power in 2011.

His military has maintained a torrid pace in testing weapons, which also include solid-fuel missiles designed to be launched from road mobile launchers or submarines.

In his aggressive pursuit of nuclear weapons, Kim is seen as seeking a real nuclear deterrent to help ensure the survival of his government and also the stronger bargaining power that would come from it.

North Korea’s latest missile launch came days after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions over the nuclear test. The latest sanctions are not as tough as what the U.S. had sought, they are expected to have a significant impact.

AP writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report from Tokyo. </s> The Latest on North Korea firing short-range missiles into the sea (all times local):

Japan's Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya says North Korea's missile test launches are probably a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Iwaya told reporters Japan is still analyzing what type of missiles North Korea fired into the sea early Thursday. South Korea's military says they were two short-range missiles, leading some observers to suggest they were not a major provocation but rather the North's warning of what may happen if the nuclear negotiations with the U.S. fail.

Iwaya says, "If they were ballistic missiles, they violate the U.N. sanctions, and I find it extremely regrettable."

Japan's Defense Ministry says it has not found any flying objects reaching the Japanese territory or its 200-mile exclusive economic zone from the North Korean launch of two short-range missiles.

The ministry has not detected signs that Thursday morning's missile launches posed any immediate threat to Japan's national security.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says the missiles fired from around the North's eastern coastal town of Wonsan flew about 430 kilometers (270 miles) before landing in the waters off the country's east coast.

South Korea says North Korea has launched two identified projectiles into the sea off its east coast.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectile launch came from an area near the eastern city of Wonsan on Thursday.

It said the projectiles flew 430 kilometers. </s> A file picture of the second test-fire of ICBM Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location in North Korea, on July 28, 2017.

[SEOUL] North Korea early on Friday fired an unidentified missile eastward from the Sunan district in its capital, Pyongyang, South Korea's military said.

The South Korean and US militaries were analysing details of the launch, the South's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The missile has flown over Japan, Japan's NHK television said.

The North's launch comes a day after the North threatened to sink Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness"for supporting a UN Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions against it for its Sept 3 nuclear test.

The North previously launched a ballistic missile from Sunan on Aug 29 which flew over Japan's Hokkaido island and landed in the Pacific waters. </s> North Korea has fired a projectile into the Sea of Japan, which is also known as the East Sea, according to a South Korean Defense Ministry official.

The object was fired from the Tongchang-ri, in the country’s North Pyongan province, early Monday local time, the official said.

South Korea and the United States are currently holding their annual military exercises, known as Foal Eagle.

North Korea has already denounced this year’s exercises through state media service KCNA.

“Now that the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet forces again kicked off the dangerous nuclear war drills against the DPRK at its doorstep, our army will counter them with the toughest counteractions,” it said.

The exercises usually draw condemnation and retribution from Pyongyang.

During last year’s drills, North Korea fired multiple short to medium range missiles and announced it could place nuclear warheads on its weapons.

The firing also comes a day after Seoul quadrupled the award for North Korean defectors and nearly a month after North Korea test-fired a new type of missile, the Pukguksong-2, a medium-long range ballistic missile.

That missile was also fired from North Pyongan province and traveled 500 kilometers (310 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan.

The launch happened while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in the United States visiting US President Donald Trump. </s> TOKYO — North Korea fired a ballistic missile Friday night which landed in the ocean off Japan, Japanese officials said.

“I have received information that North Korea once again conducted a missile firing,” he said. “We will immediately analyze information and do our utmost to protect the safety of the Japanese people.”

There was no immediate announcement of the type of missile. On July 4, North Korea test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the missile launched Friday flew for about 45 minutes and landed off the Japanese coast in waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the coast guard issued safety warnings to aircraft and ships.

South Korea and the United States also confirmed the launch.

“We are assessing and will have more information soon,” said Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was launched from North Korea’s northern Jagang province.

Analysts say the “Hwasong 14” ICBM launched by North Korea on July 4 could be capable of reaching most of Alaska or possibly Hawaii if fired in an attacking trajectory. It was launched at a very steep angle, a technique called lofting, and reached a height of more than 2,500 kilometres (1,550 miles) before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean 930 kilometres (580 miles) away. </s> SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Tuesday fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters in Tokyo.

Suga said the missile was thought to have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone and that it had had a flight time of around 40 minutes.

The missile was launched from a province near the border with China on Tuesday, the news agency Yonhap reported, citing the South Korean military.

“North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea from the vicinity of Banghyon, North Pyongan Province, at around 9:40 a.m.,” it quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying.

The launch comes a day after China warned that if tensions in the region continued to escalate, the situation could “get out of control” with “disastrous” consequences.

U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi also said that Beijing would push for the U.S. and South Korea to halt military exercises on the Korean Peninsula in exchange for North Korea suspending its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The Trump administration, which has repeatedly warned that the “era of strategic patience” with Pyongyang is over, has turned to China for help in reigning in the nuclear threat from North Korea.

But frictions between the two powers, including over the South China Sea and Taiwan, have also impeded discussions.

President Donald Trump, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in are expected to discuss North Korea on the sidelines of this week’s G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. </s> SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Monday fired four banned ballistic missiles that flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) on average, with three of them landing in waters that Japan claims as its exclusive economic zone, South Korean and Japanese officials said. The test-launches appeared to be in reaction to huge U.S.-South Korean military drills that Pyongyang insists are an invasion rehearsal.

It was not immediately clear the exact type of missile fired, but the tests will be viewed as a provocation by the Trump administration, which is working on its policy for North Korea. The New York Times reported over the weekend that the United States still can’t effectively counter Pyongyang’s actions despite efforts to perfect cyber and electronic strikes against North Korea’s missile program.

Pyongyang has test-launched a series of missiles of various ranges in recent months, including a new intermediate-range missile in February; it also conducted two nuclear tests last year. The ramped-up tests come as leader Kim Jong Un pushes for a nuclear and missile program that can deter what he calls U.S. and South Korean hostility toward the North.

There have been widespread worries that the North will conduct an ICBM test that, when perfected, could in theory reach the U.S. mainland. Washington would consider such a capability a major threat.

U.S. national security adviser H.R. McMaster and his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-jin talked by phone after the missile firings. The two condemned the launches and agreed to boost cooperation to get the North to face more effective sanctions and pressure, according to South Korea’s presidential office.

Japanese officials said three missiles landed in the 200-nautical-mile offshore area where Tokyo has sovereign rights for exploring and exploiting resources. It’s the third time that North Korean missiles have fallen in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, beginning last August. Japanese leaders see the launches into nearby waters as a growing threat.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that Monday’s launches were made from the Tongchang-ri area in North Phyongan province. The area is the home of the North’s Sohae rocket launch site where it has conducted prohibited long-range rocket launches in recent years.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, “We remain prepared — and will continue to take steps to increase our readiness — to defend ourselves and our allies from attack, and are prepared to use the full range of capabilities at our disposal against this growing threat.”

Seoul and Washington call their military drills on the Korean Peninsula, which remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty, defensive and routine.

The North hates the military drills, which run until late April and which analysts say force its impoverished military to respond with expensive deployments and drills of their own. An unidentified spokesman for the North’s General Staff of the Korean People’s Army said last week that Pyongyang’s reaction to the southern drills would be the toughest ever but didn’t elaborate

The United States has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, and 50,000 in Japan, as a deterrent against a potential aggression from the North.
South Korea claims that North Korea has fired several missiles from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station into the Sea of Japan.