North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un guided the military's latest rocket-firing drill, state media says, confirming the missile launch which was conducted in defiance of UN censure.
Saturday's launch was the first since the UN Security Council officially condemned Pyongyang on July 17 for its recent series of ballistic missile tests in violation of UN resolutions.
The North's state news agency KCNA described the missile launch by the army as a "rocket-firing drill" to simulate a strike on military bases in South Korea where 28,500 US troops are stationed.
"(Kim) examined a firing plan mapped out in consideration of the present location of the US imperialist aggressor forces' bases ... and under the simulated conditions of the battle to strike and destroy them before guiding the drill," it said.
The launch was intended to mark the July 27 anniversary of the ceasefire agreement at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, KCNA said.
It did not say where the drill took place.
Seoul's army said earlier the North had fired a short-range missile into the sea on Saturday night - the latest in a recent series of launches that heightened tension on the peninsula.
The North's military often fires missiles and rockets as a show of force or to express anger at perceived provocations, but the frequency of the recent tests - six in the past month - is unusual.
"The North fired... a short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) at 9.40pm," a spokesman for Seoul's defence ministry said.
The missile, with an estimated range of 500 kilometres, was fired in the northeastern direction from Jangsan Cape in the North's western coast.
The Japanese prime minister's crisis management centre said the launch was "extremely problematic" for aircraft and shipping lines, adding on its Twitter account that it would lodge a protest with North Korea.
UN resolutions bar North Korea from conducting any launches using ballistic missile technology.
The UN's latest criticism on the North met with angry response from the North, which called it "absolutely intolerable" and defended the missile launches as a response to "madcap war manoeuvres" by the US.
The launch came at a time when Pyongyang has been playing hawk and dove in recent weeks, mixing its tests with peace gestures that have been largely dismissed by Seoul.
The two Koreas are currently trying to sort out logistics for the North's participation in the Asian Games, which begin in September in the South Korean city of Incheon.
"Our military sees the launch by North Korea, conducted while expressing its will to participate in the upcoming Incheon Asian Games, as part of its traditional dual strategy of engagement and pressure," Seoul's military spokesman said.
Share
