North Korea fired one ballistic missile towards the sea of Japan: Reports
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North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Tuesday in a continuation of its recent streak of weapons tests, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, hours after the US reaffirmed its offer to resume diplomacy on the North's nuclear weapons programme.
North Korea launched one ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing the Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
Earlier, the South Korean military stated that North Korea launched an unidentified missile into the Sea of Japan, but provided no additional details.
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The Japanese government cautioned that the projectile shot by North Korea may be a ballistic missile, and the Japanese Coast Guard issued cautions to ships in conjunction with the probable test.
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The Japanese coast guard issued a marine safety alert to ships, although it was unclear where the weapon landed.
The South Korean presidential office planned to conduct a meeting of the national security council later in the day to discuss the launch.
After a months-long calm, North Korea resumed its nuclear tests while making conditional peace overtures to Seoul, resuming a pattern of pushing South Korea to achieve what it wants from the US.
Sung Kim, President Joe Biden's special envoy for North Korea, is scheduled to meet with US allies in Seoul in the coming days to discuss the chances of resuming negotiations with North Korea.
Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been deadlocked for more than two years due to differences about trading the lifting of crushing US-led sanctions on North Korea in exchange for the North's disarmament measures.
His government has so far refused the Biden administration's overtures to begin a conversation without preconditions, claiming that Washington must first renounce its "hostile policy," which the North mostly refers to sanctions and joint military drills between the US and South Korea.
(With inputs from agencies)