TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — North Korea fired what appeared to be a short-range ballistic missile on Monday (May 29) that landed in the sea off its east coast, the latest in a series of missile tests defying world pressure and threats of more sanctions.
The missile is believed to be a Scud-class ballistic missile though Japanese officials said they needed to gather more information before confirming that.
The missile flew about 400 kilometers (280 miles), and landed in nearly 300 kilometers from the Japanese islands of Oki, the government spokesperson said after the Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe convened a National Security Council meeting.
Monday’s launch follows two successful tests of medium to long range missiles in as many weeks by Pyongyang, which has been conducting such tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States.
