North Korea fires ballistic missile ahead of US talks with South Korea and Japan

The report, citing an official, further stated that Japan's Defence Ministry later confirmed the missile had likely landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

This launch occurred just two weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20 and marked North Korea's first missile activity since firing multiple short-range ballistic missiles on November 5, the report confirmed.

The launch also coincided with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to South Korea, Japan, and France from January 4-9.

Earlier in the week, the US Department of State, in an official statement, said, "The Secretary will discuss how the United States and the ROK can strengthen key efforts to promote a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific, as well as trilateral efforts with Japan."

"In Japan, Secretary Blinken will meet with senior Japanese government officials to review the tremendous progress the US-Japan alliance has made over the past few years. Secretary Blinken will reaffirm the importance of the alliance in addressing a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues and continue to build on the momentum of US-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation," the statement added,

Meanwhile, on October 31, Japan's Defence Ministry had reported that North Korea launched at least one ballistic missile, suspected to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)-class weapon.

The missile was launched at 7:11 am local time, flew eastward from within North Korea's interior before landing outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in waters approximately 200 kilometres west of Hokkaido's Okushiri Island at 8:37 am, NHK World had reported.

Japan's Defence Minister Nakatani Gen had stated that the missile's flight duration of 1 hour and 26 minutes marked the longest-ever trajectory of a North Korean ballistic missile. He further noted that the missile travelled around 1,000 kilometres and reached a peak altitude of approximately 7,000 kilometres.

In response to the incident, Japan's Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru had announced plans to convene the National Security Council to address the potential threat posed by the launch. (ANI)