Islamabad
\nNorth Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile on Sunday, Japan\u2019s Coast Guard and the South Korean military said, as Pyongyang condemned US-led military shows of force as tantamount to \u201ca preview of a nuclear war\u201d.
\nThe missile was launched towards the sea off North Korea\u2019s east coast, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
\nAbout 20 minutes after initially reporting the launch, the Japanese coast guard said the missile had already fallen.
\nIt appeared to have fallen outside Japan\u2019s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), broadcaster NTV reported.
\nNo further details were immediately available.
\nThe launch came after warnings from officials in Seoul and Tokyo that nuclear-armed North Korea was preparing to test-fire a missile, including one of its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) this month.
\nAll of North Korea\u2019s ballistic missile activities are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions, though Pyongyang defends them as its sovereign right to self-defence.
\nLess than half an hour after the launch, North Korean state media carried a statement from the defence ministry criticising \u201cmilitary gangsters\u201d in the United States and South Korea for raising tensions with drills, displays of force and nuclear war planning.
\nThe statement by an unnamed ministry spokesman cited the arrival of the US nuclear-powered submarine USS Missouri in the South Korean port city of Busan on Sunday.
\n\u201cThe armed forces of the DPRK will thoroughly neutralise the US and its vassal forces\u2019 attempt to ignite a nuclear war and thus reliably ensure peace and security in the Korean peninsula,\u201d the statement said, using the initials of North Korea\u2019s official name, the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea.
\nThe spokesman also criticised South Korea and the US for holding their second Nuclear Consultative Group meeting in Washington on Friday, as part of efforts by the allies to streamline war planning and increase military shows of force as a warning to North Korea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile on Sunday, Japan\u2019s Coast Guard and the South Korean military said, as Pyongyang condemned US-led military shows of force as tantamount to \u201ca preview of a nuclear war\u201d. The missile was launched towards the sea off North Korea\u2019s east coast, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-375051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n