North Korea fires unidentified ballistic missile

North Korea fired a ballistic missile, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Wednesday, citing South Korea's joint chiefs of staff.

The Pentagon said that there was a “probable” missile launch from North Korea. “We detected a probable missile launch from North Korea. We are in the process of assessing the situation and will provide additional details when available,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning told reporters.

He said the probable launch was detected at 6.17pm GMT. The missile flew to the east and the South Korean military is analysing details of the launch with the United States, according to a report from Yonhap.

NHK in Japan, citing the defense ministry, reported that the missile may have landed in the water of Japan's exclusive economic zone.

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Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe ordered an emergency meeting of cabinet ministers in response to the launch.

South Korea’s military said it conducted a missile-firing exercise shortly after the launch.

Earlier on Tuesday, US government sources said they thought North Korea could conduct a new missile test within days.

One of the sources, who did not want to be identified, said the United States had evidence that Japanese reports about the monitoring of signals suggesting North Korea was preparing a new missile test were accurate.

After firing missiles at a rate of about two or three a month since April, North Korea paused its missile launches in late September, after it fired a missile that passed over Japan’s northern Hokkaido island on September 15th.

Last week, North Korea denounced US president Donald Trump’s decision to relist it as a state sponsor of terrorism, calling it a “serious provocation and violent infringement”.

The designation allows the United States to impose more sanctions, though some experts said it risked inflaming tensions.

– Reuters/Bloomberg