(LEAD) N. Korea fires unspecified ballistic missile toward East Sea: S. Korean military

▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Feb. 19, 2023, shows the North's launch of a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile at a lofted angle the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) N Korea-missile launch

(LEAD) N. Korea fires unspecified ballistic missile toward East Sea: S. Korean military

(ATTN: UPDATES with Kim Yo-jong's statement, other details from 2nd para)

SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Monday, Seoul's military said, a day after South Korea and the United States staged joint air drills, involving B-1B bombers, in response to the North's long-range missile launch.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced the launch, the North's third missile provocation this year. It did not immediately provide details.

Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued another sharp-tongued threat of "corresponding" actions against the allies' military drills.

"The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends upon the U.S.," she said in an English-language statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The latest saber-rattling raised concerns that the North may continue to engage in such provocations as the allies plan to hold a tabletop military exercise against North Korean nuclear threats this week and their springtime Freedom Shield exercise next month.

The allies carried out the air drills, involving the U.S. bombers and South Korean F-35A stealth jets, on Sunday as the North launched what it claims to be a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Saturday.

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