North Korea fires second ballistic missile in a week ahead of US-South Korea war drills

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station (Picture credit: AP) North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast on Wednesday, South Korean and Japanese authorities said, marking Pyongyang’s second reported ballistic missile launch in less than a week and coming days before major US-South Korea military exercises.South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was launched from the Wonsan area on the North’s eastern coast at around 6 am (local time) and travelled more than 700 km (435 miles).Japan’s defence ministry also detected the launch and said the missile landed in waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.Japan said the missile reached a maximum altitude of about 90 km (56 miles.The latest launch came two days after South Korea and the United States announced that their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises would begin on August 17.The drills are scheduled to run until August 27 and are aimed at strengthening readiness against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.North Korea has repeatedly condemne...