SEOUL, Aug. 12 -- South Korea's National Security Council gathered for an emergency session Wednesday morning after military monitors confirmed that Pyongyang had fired another ballistic missile toward the East Sea, its 11th launch of the year and the second in less than a week, timed to land six days before major US-South Korean joint military exercises are set to begin.

The missile, launched from the Wonsan area on North Korea's east coast, traveled more than 700 kilometres and reached an altitude of approximately 90 kilometres before splashing down in the sea outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. Tokyo's Defence Ministry confirmed the projectile had already fallen without any indica...