Seoul (TIP): North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea on October 28, Seoul officials said, as its rival South Korea was wrapping up an annual military drill that the North views as an invasion rehearsal.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the missile flew towards North Korea’s eastern waters but gave no further details including how far the weapon flew. The launch, the latest in a series of weapons tests by North Korea in recent weeks, came on the final day of South Korea’s annual 12-day “Hoguk” field exercises, which also involved an unspecified number of US troops this year.

The South Korean and US air forces plan to conduct a large-scale training next week. North Korea sees such regular drills by Seoul and Washington as practice for launching an attack on the North, though the allies say their exercises are defensive in nature.

Friday’s launch came four days after the rival Koreas exchanged warning shots along their disputed western sea boundary, a scene of past bloodshed and naval battles.  (AP)