N. Korea fires 1 short

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows the test firing of a new solid-fuel Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at an undisclosed location in North Korea, April 13. Yonhap

North Korea fired one short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Sunday, the 12th anniversary of the death of late leader Kim Jong-il, according to South Korea's military.

The launch briefly raised speculation that it could be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) because South Korea's First Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said a few days earlier the North could fire an ICBM within this month.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, however, that the North fired a short-range missile from in or around Pyongyang at about 10:38 p.m. and it flew about 570 kilometers before splashing in the East Sea.

"While elevating our alert readiness, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture by closely sharing data on the 'North Korean ballistic missile' with the United States and Japan," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

The three countries have agreed to operate a system for the real-time sharing of North Korean ballistic missile warning data by the end of this year amid efforts to bolster trilateral security cooperation against the North's threats.

The JCS called the latest launch a "clear" violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the North from using ballistic missile technology, vowing to maintain a readiness to respond "overwhelmingly" to any provocations.

The launch also came days after Seoul and Washington held the second session of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) and agreed to complete the establishment of guidelines on the planning and operation of a shared nuclear strategy by the middle of next year.

Just after the South's announcement of the launch, the North's defense ministry lambasted the NCG meeting as "an open declaration on nuclear confrontation," and criticized the U.S.' deployment of major military assets to the Korean Peninsula this year.

"The hostile forces' any attempt to use armed forces against the DPRK will face a preemptive and deadly counteraction," it said in an English-language statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The North's latest saber-rattling also came amid heightened tensions after Pyongyang last month scrapped a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement designed to reduce tensions and prevent accidental clashes along the border.

Seoul had partially suspended the deal in protest of the North's successful launch of its first military spy satellite on Nov. 21.

The North last fired a ballistic missile on Nov. 22, but the launch apparently failed, according to the JCS.

The latest launch coincided with the 12th anniversary of the death of the North's former leader Kim Jong-il, the father of current leader Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap)