North Korea fires ballistic missile toward East Sea, traveling over 700 km

North Korea fired a ballistic missile Wednesday from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch at around 6 a.m. and that the missile traveled more than 700 kilometers.

"South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis of the exact specifications," the JCS said, adding that the two countries' intelligence authorities had been tracking and sharing information on the launch from its earliest stages. It said relevant data had also been shared with Japan.

The JCS added that under the firm South Korea-US combined defense posture, the two allies were closely monitoring North Korea's various activities and maintaining the capability and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation.

Cheong Wa Dae's National Security Office convened an emergency security review meeting and expressed concern over North Korea's continued ballistic missile launches following the one on Thursday, Aug. 6. "North Korea's ballistic missile launches are a provocative act that violates UN Security Council resolutions, and we urge it to halt them immediately," the office said.

Wednesday's launch came six days after the previous one. North Korea had fired a short-range ballistic missile from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea at around 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6.

North Korean state media did not report that launch at the time, prompting some observers to note the unusual departure from its typical pattern.

Wednesday's launch was North Korea's 11th ballistic missile firing this year. It is widely seen as a response to the upcoming Ulchi Freedom Shield combined exercise, which South Korea and the United States are scheduled to conduct from Monday, Aug. 17, through Aug. 27.

North Korea has consistently denounced the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise as a "northward invasion rehearsal" and has frequently staged missile launches and other shows of force around the time of joint drills.