North Korea fires short-range ballistic missile ahead of US-South drills

North Korea has fired a short-range ballistic missile toward the Yellow Sea, the South Korean military says, after warning the United States on its joint military drills with the South scheduled to be conducted next week.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement on Thursday that it had detected the launch from the North's western port city of Nampo at 6:20 p.m. local time.

"While strengthening its monitoring and vigilance, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the United States," the JCS stated.

The latest missile launch, the North's fifth ballistic missile of the year, came as Washington and Seoul are preparing to kick off the so-called Freedom Shield military drills on March 13-23, despite Pyongyang's  threats to take “unprecedently” strong action against such training. 

Last year, North Korea fired roughly 75 missiles, an annual record, in 36 separate days of testing.

The Thursday launch adds to a barrage of rockets the North has fired in recent weeks, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (IBM) designed to deliver a nuclear warhead to the mainland USA.

SS