North Korea fires missile after threatening retaliation

North Korea has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Japan’s government has said.

The defence ministry confirmed it was launched on Saturday, flew for 66 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.

It comes after Pyongyang showed off its massive military might in a parade that included more than a dozen ICBMs.

On Friday, North Korea threatened to unleash an “unprecedentedly strong” retaliation to any military drills between South Korea and the US.

The annual springtime exercises, which are due to start next month, are designed to help fend off North Korea’s increasing nuclear threats. But Pyongyang has long insisted the drills are in preparation to invade North Korea.

Saturday’s missile, which is the first to be launched since new year’s day, splashed down west of Hokkaido, in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) at 18:27 (09:27 GMT), Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. An EEZ is an area of the sea that a country has jurisdiction over. Japan’s is a 200-nautical mile area off its coast.

(BBC)