Mootell

North Korea fires ballistic missile, prompting Seoul to convene emergency meeting

North Korea is reported to have fired an unidentified missile on Sunday (21 May) amid rising tensions in the Korean peninsula. The launch has prompted new South Korean President Moon Jae-in to convene an emergency meeting to assess the situation in the region.

The latest launch took place from an area just north of the capital Pyongyang, Yonhap news agency cited the South Korean military as saying.

"North Korea fired an unidentified projectile from a site this afternoon from the vicinity of Pukchang in Pyeongannam-do [South Pyeongan province]," the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The projectile flew about 500km (310 miles), it added.

The missile is believed to have landed in waters off North Korea's east coast.

The type of the missile is not known yet, but local media reports speculate it to be a ballistic one. However, it is not believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Yonhap cited an anonymous source as saying.

North Korea has launched 11 missiles since the start of the year, including the current one - equivalent to about a launch every two weeks.

The launch comes a week after North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile named the Hwasong-12, which according to experts, was Pyongyang's longest-range missile till date.

The Kim Jong-un regime has reportedly been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the west coast of the US mainland.

"Today the US mainland and the Pacific operational theatre are within the strike range of the DPRK and the DPRK has all kinds of powerful means for annihilating retaliatory strike," North Korea's state KCNA news agency said in a commentary on Saturday (20 May).