N Korea fires ballistic missile in latest test, Seoul says

South Korea’s military said the North had fired a missile from near its capital Pyongyang.

North Korea on Sunday fired a ballistic missile from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, South Korea’s military said, in the latest weapons test for a country speeding up its development of nuclear weapons and missiles.

A South Korean newspaper shows images of North Korean ballistic missile, in Seoul, South Korea, on May 16, 2017. (AP Photo)

The missile was fired from an area near Pukchang, in South Phyongan Province, and flew eastward about 500 kilometers, said South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff. It didn’t immediately provide more details.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a National Security Council meeting at the presidential Blue House to discuss the missile launch, Moon’s office said.

The launch comes a week after North Korea successfully tested a new mid-range missile that Pyongyang said could carry a heavy nuclear warhead. Experts said that rocket flew higher and for a longer time than any other missile previously tested by North Korea, and that it could one day reach targets as far away as Hawaii and Alaska.