North Korea launches missile before US-South Korea drills, Seoul says

North Korea launched a ballistic missile from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, early Wednesday, South Korea's military said, days before major US-South Korea drills are due to begin.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch was detected at around 6:00 am local time, or 2100 GMT Tuesday. Japan's defence ministry described the object as a suspected ballistic missile and said it was thought to have “already fallen”, without giving further details.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises are due to start on Monday and last 11 days. They are a regular summer drill intended to prepare South Korean and US forces to defend against nuclear-armed North Korea.

The drills will include 18,000 South Korean troops and US counterparts drawn from the 28,500-strong US contingent in South Korea. Colonel Ryan Donald, spokesman for the US and South Korean Combined Forces Command, said Monday that the training would account for North Korean troops' experience from deployment in Europe.

North Korea has long criticised the joint drills as rehearsals for invasion and has staged missile launches before and after the exercises in the past.

Pyongyang has also criticised Japan over what it describes as remilitarisation. Japan has been increasing military spending, expanding defence pacts and deploying missile launchers to outer islands. Japan's Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said last week that Japan's military needed to be strengthened with a “sense of urgency and crisis”.

North Korea has played a more active role in international conflict by backing Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine accused Russia on Tuesday of launching North Korean missiles in an attack that killed 10 people and wounded dozens. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also warned, without providing evidence, that Moscow has been receiving more ballistic projectiles and troops from Pyongyang.