The Japanese Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday issued an emergency alert saying North Korea had launched a suspected ballistic missile. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi immediately instructed relevant officials to make every effort to gather information and provide it to the public in a timely and appropriate manner.

The ballistic missile test comes days before the US and South Korea are set to begin joint military drills. North Korea has focused on expanding its nuclear and missile arsenals since leader Kim Jong Un’s diplomacy with US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019, according to the Associated Press.Japan’s Defence Ministry initially said an object suspected to be a ballistic missile had been launched from North Korea. It later said it estimated that the object had already fallen.North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea, marking its second such launch in less than a week, in an apparent protest against the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, according to Yonhap News Agency.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the missile being launched from the Wonsan area on the east coast at around 6 am.South Korea’s Presidential Office described North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch as a provocation. In an emergency meeting, the office called for a halt to such acts. Earlier on August 6, North Korea had launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the waters off its east coast.The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that they detected the launch from North Korea’s eastern coastal Wonsan area around 5pm (local time).

South Korea’s Presidential Office described North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch as a provocation. In an emergency meeting, the office called for a halt to such acts. Earlier on August 6, North Korea had launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the waters off its east coast.The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that they detected the launch from North Korea’s eastern coastal Wonsan area around 5pm (local time).Kim claimed that North Korea’s capacity to produce weapons-grade nuclear material has more than doubled over the past five years, though there is no independent means of verifying that assertion.He praised the country’s nuclear scientists for delivering on the goals of a five-year plan and said the nuclear potential being built was “inconceivable.”

Officials from the munitions industry and the Nuclear Weapons Institute accompanied the visit — a signal, analysts noted, that the program has shifted from research and development towards mass production.