• North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters.
• North Korea has vowed a fierce military response to U.S. security operations in the region.
• South Korea and the US staged a pre-planned missile defense practice before launch.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards its eastern waters, Seoul officials say, hours after vowing a “fierce military response” to U.S. security operations in the region.

Thursday’s launch came from North Korea’s Wonsan area, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff stated.

The missile flew 240 km (149 mi) and reached a height of 47 km (29 mi), the JCS said, adding that South Korea and the US staged a “pre-planned” missile defense practice before launch.

The South Korean military would remain ready, it said.

Pyongyang has tested a record number of missiles this year, including a probable failed ICBM, while Washington and Seoul have escalated their joint military exercises.

Japan participated in several drills.

US, South Korea, and Japan had trilateral talks at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia last week to “strengthen deterrence” amid concerns.

US President Joe Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida “strongly condemned” North Korea’s “record number of ballistic missile launches” and committed to “build still-closer trilateral linkages, in security and beyond.”

Biden warned Pyongyang against conducting a seventh nuclear test, saying the US resolve to defend Seoul and Tokyo was “supported by the whole range of weapons, including nuclear.”

North Korea’s foreign minister said the three countries “war preparations for aggression” won’t rein in Pyongyang but instead bring a “more serious, actual, and unavoidable threat” on themselves.

“The more the US emphasizes its ‘bolstered offer of extended deterrence to its allies and escalates provocative and bluffing military acts, the fiercer the DPRK’s military response will be,” Choe warned in a statement quoted by KCNA.

She called her country DPRK, its official initials.

“The US will know it’s gambling and regret it,” she warned.

Choe called the North’s military activities “legal and appropriate countermeasures” to US-led training.

Analysts said Pyongyang’s signals were noteworthy considering the recent regional summits and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s participation after years of self-imposed seclusion.

China is North Korea’s key commercial partner and ally.

Even if North Korea conducts another nuclear test, Beijing may not become more cooperative, says Leif-Eric Easley of Ewha University in Seoul.

At some point, Chinese interests will choose to pressure Pyongyang over facing a unified US, South Korea, and Japan.

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