AKIPRESS.COM - North Korea on Monday fired off its third ballistic missile test in just over three weeks, a short-range ballistic missile that Japan said fell in the ocean within 200 miles of its coastline, CNN reported.
South Korea and Japan immediately issued strong protests, with Japan's Prime Minister promising "concrete action" in response and the South Korean defense chiefs saying the North would face "strong punishment from our military."
The missile was fired at 5:39 a.m. local time (4:39 p.m. Sunday ET) from an area near Wonsan, Kangwon province, toward the eastern part of the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The missile was "assumed" to be one of the Scud series, the statement said.
"It flew about 450 kilometers," the statement said. "Our military is closely monitoring North Korean military and maintaining readiness posture."
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said a "firm protest" was lodged with North Korea.