N. Korean missile lands in Sea of Japan

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile that landed in Japan's maritime economic zone early today, officials said, the latest test-launch as the North seeks to build nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland.

The suspected Scud-type missile was launched from the coastal town of Wonsan and flew about 280 miles, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It landed about 230 miles off the Japanese coast, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. He said there was no report of damage to planes or vessels in the area.

The U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement that it tracked a short-range missile for six minutes until it landed in the Sea of Japan.

North Korea is still thought to be several years away from its goal of being able to target U.S. mainland cities with a nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korea's state-controlled media had no immediate comment. But a day earlier, the North said leader Kim Jong Un had watched a successful test of a new type of anti-aircraft guided weapon system. It wasn't clear from the state media report when the test happened.

Kim found that the weapon system's ability to detect and track targets had "remarkably" improved, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The agency cited Kim as ordering officials to mass-produce and deploy the system all over the country so as to "completely spoil the enemy's wild dream to command the air."

Today's missile launch was the third since South Korea's President Moon Jae-in was inaugurated May 10. Moon has signaled an interest in expanding civilian exchange with North Korea, but many analysts say he likely won't push for any major rapprochement projects because North Korea has gone too far on its nuclear program.

Moon called a National Security Council meeting this morning to discuss the North's launch.

Suga said Japanese officials will also discuss North Korea with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who is scheduled to visit Japan today.

Information for this article was contributed by Mari Yamaguchi and Kaori Hitomi of The Associated Press.

A Section on 05/29/2017

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