North Korea fires projectile towards sea amid US-South Korea military drills

Projectile was fired toward the sea off North Korea’s east coast, the South Korean military said, days after Seoul and Washington launched major military drills

North Korea fired a projectile towards the sea on Saturday, South Korea and Japan said, with Tokyo saying it may have been a ballistic missile, while the US and South Korea conducted military drills.

The projectile was fired toward the sea off North Korea’s east coast, the South Korean military said in a brief message to reporters. It gave no further details. Japan’s coast guard said the projectile appeared to have fallen into the sea.

It appeared to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported, citing defence ministry sources.

Seoul and Washington, five days earlier, launched the major drills, which they say are purely defensive, aimed at testing readiness against military threats from North Korea.