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North Korea fires ballistic missile, says Seoul

People in Seoul watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test
People in Seoul watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile off its east coast, South Korea's military has said.

The launch comes just two days after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the sea off Japan's west coast, in what it called a "sudden launching drill".

This missile launch is the north's third major weapons test this year after Pyongyang threatened an "unprecedentedly persistent, strong" response as South Korea and the United States geared up for their annual military exercises as part of efforts to fend off the growing nuclear and missile threat that the North poses.