North Korea fires ballistic missile ahead of US-South drills
North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast towards Japan early on Aug. 12, Seoul's military said, days before the planned start of massive U.S.-South Korea joint drills.
The 11-day exercises due to begin on Monday are a regular fixture of the summer calendar, designed to steel the United States and South Korea for defence against the nuclear-armed North.
Pyongyang calls them rehearsals for an invasion and has staged missile launches before and after them in the past.
"Our military detected at around 6:00 am (2100 GMT on Tuesday) a ballistic missile launched by North Korea from the Wonsan area towards the East Sea," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a message to reporters.
