DPRK fires ballistic missile

Passengers watch a TV screen broadcasting a news report on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea firing a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast, at a railway station in Seoul, Feb 12, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired what is believed to be a ballistic missile into its eastern waters early Sunday, Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The presumed intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile was launched at around 7:55 a.m. local time (2255 GMT Saturday) near Banghyeon in the DPRK's northwestern North Pyongan province.

The projectile is estimated to have traveled about 500 km, according to the JCS. It landed in waters off the DPRK's east coast, according to local media reports.

Pyongyang test-fired Musudan missiles near the same place, where an airfield is located, in October last year.

It was the DPRK's first test-launch of a ballistic missile in 2017 and also the first since US President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20.

Republic of Korea's military said Pyongyang's launch of ballistic missile was a provocative act in violation of UN Security Council's resolutions, which ban the DPRK from testing any ballistic missile technology.

The launch, the military believed, was aimed at drawing attention by showing off its nuclear and missile capability and was also part of armed protest against the Trump administration's hard-line stance toward the DPRK.