North Korea on Tuesday morning fired a ballistic missile over Japan, triggering alarms in the island country.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff here said the missile was fired from Jagang Province at around 7:23 a.m. and flew about 4,000 km.
President Yoon Suk-yeol condemned the launch while speaking to reporters at his office in Yongsan, Seoul on Tuesday morning.
The JCS said the South "is fully prepared to deal with the North's provocation in close cooperation with the U.S. while strengthening surveillance and vigilance."
The Japanese government issued an alert for residents in Hokkaido and Aomori prefectures to take shelter from the missile.
The launch came just three days after North Korea fired another two missiles last Saturday. The North has fired a total of eight missiles in the past 10 days, sometimes at a rate of two a day.
So far this year, North Korea has fired a total of 21 ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles.
Pundits believe the North is testing short-range ballistic missiles by varying their altitude, distance and speed.