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The missile flew 1,100km before falling into the sea, the military said, adding that it “strongly condemns” this “clear act of provocation”.<\/p>\n
The launch comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Seoul for talks with some of South Korea’s key leaders.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Monday, Blinken met with acting president Choi Sang-mok, where he described the alliance between Washington and Seoul as a “cornerstone of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula”.<\/p>\n
South Korea’s military says it has strengthened surveillance for the North’s future missile launches and is “closely sharing information” on today’s launch with the US and Japan.<\/p>\n
Today’s launch also comes amid political chaos in South Korea, which has embroiled the country for weeks after suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law attempt in December.<\/p>\n
Yoon, who was stripped of his presidential powers after lawmakers voted to impeach him, now faces arrest. The constitutional court is also deliberating whether he should be removed from office.<\/p>\n
Pyongyang previously mocked Yoon’s shock martial law declaration as an “insane act” and accused Yoon of “brazenly brandishing blades and guns of fascist dictatorship at his own people”.<\/p>\n
The international community considers North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un a dictator. Kim’s family has ruled the hermit nation for decades by developing and promoting a cult of personality.<\/p>\n
The last time Pyongyang fired missiles was in November, a day before the US presidential election, when it launched at least seven short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast.<\/p>\n
Earlier that week, the US had flown a long-range bomber during trilateral military drills with South Korea and Japan in a show of power, drawing condemnation from Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong.<\/p>\n
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