North Korea launches possible ballistic missile

North Korea appeared to test fire their second ballistic missile in less than a week. South Korea and Japan condemned the launch.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the suspected missile launch was detected around 7:27am GMT from an inland area of North Korea.

An emergency meeting was held by South Korea’s National Security Council, where “strong regret” was expressed about the missile test.

“Members of the NSC urged North Korea to swiftly respond to the international community’s expectations for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, and agree to resume dialogue and cooperation,” said the Blue House in a statement.

North Korea claimed to have tested a hypersonic missile on Wednesday, underscoring supreme leader Kim Jong-un’s vow on New Years to strengthen the military after talks with South Korea and the US had stalled.

If the projectile followed the trajectory of a normal ballistic missile, it would have flown less than 435k miles [700km], said Japan’s defence ministry.

ALL aircraft in Southern California were ordered to remain grounded on Monday reportedly due to another North Korean missile test - the second in a week - as protests erupted in Japan over the launch.

Flights at Sacramento International Airport and San Francisco International Airport were briefly ground, as confirmed by the airports.

The planes were halted for about five minutes. An on-duty manager at SFO said it was a nationwide issue.