North Korea fires ballistic missile towards the sea, South Korea says

South Korea’s military says North Korea has fired at least one ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Saturday morning that its northern neighbour fired a ballistic missile from the port city of Wonsan on the eastern shore of the Korean Peninsula and that it flew more than 700 kilometres (435 miles).

Seoul’s presidential national security office convened an emergency meeting to assess the situation after the launch, the president’s office said in a statement.

The South Korean military raised an alert for further launches and said it would share intelligence with the US and Japan.

Japan issued an emergency alert on Saturday, saying: “North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile.”

The US Pacific Command said it was aware of the launch, adding that it was consulting closely with US allies and partners.

“Based on current assessments, this event does not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to our allies,” it said in a social media post.

The launch came a day after Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, ridiculed South Korean demands for the North to apologise over landmine blasts that South Korea and the US-led United Nations Command said were caused by North Korean mines planted south of the Military Demarcation Line.

The blasts seriously injured three South Korean soldiers on a reconnaissance mission inside the 4km-wide (2.5-mile) border zone that stretches across the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea has also called on the North to halt recent efforts to fortify its border, including the installation of mines and anti-tank barriers.

Kim Yo Jong dismissed Seoul’s demands as “utterly pathetic”, saying the North intends to permanently cut ties with the South.

Saturday’s launch was the latest in a series of North Korean military displays in recent weeks, including tests of a purported hypersonic missile system, live-fire exercises and the commissioning of a new warship.