SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea fired a short-range missile into the sea on Friday, Seoul officials said, hours after the U.S., South Korean and Japanese leaders pledged to work closer together to prevent North Korea from advancing its nuclear and missile programs.
The surface-to-air missile fired from an eastern coastal area flew into waters off the North’s east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It gave no further details.
The missile is the latest in a series of weapon launches by the North in an apparent response to ongoing military exercises between the United States and South Korea. North Korea views the drills as an invasion rehearsal.
This year’s drills, set to run until late April, are the biggest, and come after North Korea’s nuclear test and long-range rocket test earlier this year.
In Washington, President Barack Obama on Thursday met with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts to discusse ways of deterring North Korea’s nuclear threats before a two-day nuclear summit that opens Friday. Obama also met Chinese President Xi Jinping and both called for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. China also agreed to implement in full the latest economic restrictions imposed by the U.N. Security Council against Pyongyang.