North Korea fires short-range ballistic missile toward Sea of Japan

North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan early hours today. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the missile flew around 240 kilometers and reached an altitude of 47 kilometers.

The latest launch came less than two hours after North Korea’s foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, slammed a Sunday trilateral summit of the United States, South Korea, and Japan, during which the leaders criticised Pyongyang’s weapons tests and pledged greater security cooperation.

According to media reports, North Korea has conducted a record number of such tests this year, and also fired hundreds of artillery shells into the sea more recently as South Korea and the United States staged exercises, some of which involved Japan.