North Korea fires ballistic missile as U.S. and South Korea ready for military drills

North Korea fired a long-range ballistic missile from its capital Pyongyang towards the sea, officials in South Korea and Japan said Saturday.

The launch came a day after North Korea’s Foreign Ministry threatened “unprecedently” strong action against its rivals, after neighboring South Korea announced a series of planned military exercises with the United States.

Calling it “an outrageous act that is escalating provocations against the international community as a whole,” Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said North Korea had launched an intercontinental ballistic class missile.

Speaking to reporters after a National Security Council meeting, he...