Japan expresses protest to N. Korea over missile launch

Japan has lodged a stern protest with North Korea over the latest missile launch, calling it a violation of UN Security Council resolutions against it and condemning the action as threatening the safety of Japan, Report informs referring to Reuters.

North Korea fired what is believed to have been an intermediate-range ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan on January 14, marking its first such activity of the year and coming less than a month after it launched a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, the South Korean military said.

The military said one missile was fired at around 2:55 p.m. from near Pyongyang and, after flying several thousand kilometers, fell into the sea. The Japanese government confirmed that the projectile fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The launch came as tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula, with the North recently firing a barrage of artillery shells near the disputed western maritime boundary with South Korea and Seoul conducting a military exercise in retaliation.