North Korea fires ballistic missile

By Park Si-soo

North Korea launched a ballistic missile Sunday morning from a site near its border with China, South Korea's military said, in its first military provocation since Moon Jae-in was elected South Korean president last week.

The missile flew some 700 kilometers for 30 minutes, and landed in the East Sea. The flight distance suggests a success of the missile test.

“North Korea fired an unidentified missile at around 5:27 a.m. today from an area in the vicinity of Kusong, North Pyongan Province," the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement. "The South and the U.S. are analyzing more details about the missile."

The U.S. Pacific Command, based in Hawaii, also announced that it detected and tracked the launch of the missile.

“The type of missile is being assessed and the flight was not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile,” it said. “U.S. Pacific Command is fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security.”

President Moon convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council at 8:20 a.m. to discuss the issue.

The Japanese government also announced that the North's missile flew for half an hour and landed in the East Sea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe criticized the North for again violating the U.N. Security Council resolutions.