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North Korea fires ballistic missile off its east coast, South says

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile off its east coast, South Korea's military said on Tuesday. The launch was the latest in a series of weapons tests that come as South Korea and the United States conduct their largest joint military drills in years.

Launch comes just 2 days after Pyongyang tested cruise missiles from a submarine

A TV screen shows an image of missile launches.
A TV screen at a Seoul railway station shows an image of North Korean missile launches on Friday. (Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press)

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile off its east coast, South Korea's military said on Tuesday. The launch was the latest in a series of weapons tests as South Korea and the United States conduct their largest joint military drills in years.

Other details, including the missile's flight range, were not immediately available.

The launch comes two days after North Korea test-fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine, and as the United States and South Korea conduct major military drills to counter the North's growing threats.

On Monday, South Korean and American forces began 11 days of joint drills — dubbed "Freedom Shield 23" — on a scale not seen since 2017.

North Korea has long bristled at the allies' drills as a rehearsal for invasion.

On Sunday, North Korea said it has decided to take "important practical" war deterrence measures, noting that "war provocations of the U.S. and South Korea are reaching the red line."