North Korea fires missile as Trump and Xi prepare to meet

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, South Korea and the US military said, days after Pyongyang warned of retaliation if the global community ramps up sanctions.

South Korea's defence ministry said the missile flew about 60km (40 miles).

It is the latest in a series of tests which the North says is peaceful but the West fears is part of a programme to develop nuclear weapons.

The US military said it was a KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile which it had determined posed no threat to America.

The North is banned from any missile or nuclear tests by the UN, though has repeatedly broken those sanctions.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described the launch as "yet another" intermediate range ballistic missile, adding: "The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment."

The US military's Pacific Command said it appeared to have been a KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile.

"The North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America," it said.

Japan called the launch "provocative", while South Korea condemned it as "a blunt challenge" to the UN and "a threat to the peace and safety of the international community as well as the Korean peninsula".

Last month, North Korea fired four ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan from the Tongchang-ri region, near the border with China.

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe called it a "new stage of threat".

Source: dailysun