North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Into Sea, Says South Korea

A North Korean ballistic missile test on Wednesday likely ended in failure, South Korea's military said, days after the US deployed an aircraft carrier for a new trilateral military drill with South Korea and Japan.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of StaffChiefs of StaffChiefs of Staff said in a statement that North Korea launched a ballistic missile from its capital region around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday. It said the missile was launched toward the North's eastern waters, but the launch was suspected to have ended in failure.

It gave no further details like whether it assessed the North Korean missile likely crashed on the ground or exploded in mid-air. Japan's Defence Ministry said earlier Wednesday that it also detected a suspected ballistic missile by North Korea.