North Korea fires ballistic missile over upcoming US and South Korean military drills
North Korea has fired a long-range ballistic missile after warning of a strong response to upcoming annual military drills by South Korea and the US.
According to Japan's government, the missile landed inside Japan's maritime borders on Saturday.
North Korea's first missile firing since 1 January came after Pyongyang threatened on Friday that they would respond to the upcoming drills.
According to Japanese media, there had not been any reports of damage to aircraft or ships in the area.
Japan's national broadcaster reported that Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has called North Korea's missile launch "outrageous".
South Korean officials echoed the sentiment, calling it a "clear breach of UN Security Council resolutions".
Following the launch, South Korea's National Security Council convened a meeting and agreed to increase cooperation on security with Washington and Tokyo, according to Reuters.
The launch came after Pyongyang showed off its military might in a night-time parade celebrating 70 years of its military.
During the parade, North Korea showed off more missiles than ever, including more than a dozen ICBMs.
ICBM stands for intercontinental ballistic missile, meaning the missiles have a range greater than 5,500km, enabling them to traverse continents.
According to Hirokazu Matsuno, a Japanese government spokesperson, the missile flew 560 miles (900km) before plunging into the sea, the long distance covered by the missile indicating that it was an ICBM capable of reaching mainland US.
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