North Korea fires ballistic missile towards Sea of Japan

WORLD, March 19 (YPA) – North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The missile launched from the North’s northwestern region flew across the country before it landed in the waters off its east coast, the JCS said in a statement.

The missile flew 800 kilometres (497 miles) and was under analysis by US and South Korean intelligence, according to the statement

The new missile appears to have come in an apparent protest against the ongoing joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, the Freedom Shield, which began on March 13 and will continue until March 23.

“North Korea’s behaviour threatens international peace and security, and is unacceptable,” Japan’s state minister of defense, Toshiro Ino, told a news conference, adding Japan had protested strongly via North Korea’s embassy in Beijing.

North Korea launched two submarine-launched cruise missiles on March 12, a day before the drills began, and a short-range ballistic missile on March 14.

E.M