Plea from US after reports of North Korea’s missile testing

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile from the sea, South Korea’s military said, suggesting Pyongyang may have tested an underwater-launched missile for the first time in three years.

The reported launch came ahead of a resumption of nuclear talks with the US this weekend.

South Korean military radars detected the North Korean missile flying about 280 miles at a maximum altitude of 565 miles after lift-off from a site about 10 miles off the North’s eastern coastal town of Wonsan, Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said.

Mr Jeong said he believes the missile’s range is longer because North Korea appears to have deliberately elevated its altitude. In the past, North Korea often fired missiles at a lofted angle in order to avoid neighbouring countries.

Some experts say the weapon was a medium-range missile, which North Korea stopped firing along with long-range missiles after it entered talks with the US early last year.

Japan lodged an immediate protest, saying the missile landed inside its exclusive economic zone. If confirmed, it would be the first North Korean missile to land that close to Japan since November 2017.

The US State Department called on North Korea “to refrain from provocations, abide by their obligations under UN Security Council resolutions, and remain engaged in substantive and sustained negotiations to do their part to ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and achieve denuclearisation”.

Picture: AP. A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korea missile during a news programme at the Seoul Railway Station, South Korea.