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 ballistic missile launch comes as South Korea and the US plan to conduct major joint military drills to counter North Korea's evolving nuclear and weapons capabilities.

Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi called the launch a ‘threat to peace and security in our region’.