In fresh defiance of the United Nations sanctions, North Korea has fired another ballistic missile from a submarine off its east coast.
US officials say the KN-11 missile was launched from waters near Sinpo and flew about 500 kilometres before falling into the Sea of Japan.
The US State Department condemned the recent missile launch by the North Korea and vowed to raise concerns at the UN
The South’s military said it “seemed to be aimed at raising military tension in response to the Seoul-Washington military drill”, BBC reports.
It said it would “sternly and strongly respond to any provocation by North Korea”.
Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe says it fell inside Japan’s air defence identification zone and called it a “reckless act”.
This comes as South Korea and the US begin annual military drills, which routinely annoys Pyongyang.
North Korea, had earlier warned over the drill saying they are pushing the Korean peninsula towards the brink of war and threatened a “pre-emptive nuclear strike” in retaliation.