North Korea launches ballistic missile after Seoul demands apology over wounded soldiers

Pyongyang fires towards sea a day after Kim Jong-un sister denounces South Korea for claiming North’s mines wounded South’s soldiers in DMZ

North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea on Saturday, South Korea and Japan said, ⁠a day ​after it rejected Seoul’s accusation of its mines wounding soldiers.

Japan’s ⁠coast guard, citing the defence ministry, said the object may have been ​a ballistic missile and appeared to have come ‌down, warning ships to take ‌precautions.

South Korea’s military said it heightened its monitoring of any further missile tests and would share intelligence with the US and Japan. The South Korean presidential office’s national security council convened an emergency meeting on Saturday to assess the situation.

South Korea’s president, Lee Jae Myung, had urged Pyongyang on Thursday to return to dialogue, despite his military demanding an apology a day earlier. Kim Yo-jong responded by calling Seoul “really despicable” and ridiculing Lee’s latest overture, calling it “the climax of the farce that everyone should watch”.

South Korea said this week that North Korean mines caused the blast that injured ⁠three South Korean soldiers on a reconnaissance mission inside the 4km-wide buffer zone that stretches ​across the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has launched missile tests on more than 10 occasions so far this year. Some came after North Korea protested against joint military drills between Seoul and Washington.