JCS DETECTED N. KOREAN LRBM LAUNCH

[Anchor Lead]

North Korea fired a long-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea Thursday morning. The missile flew for more than an hour and is suspected to have landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. The latest move is seen as North Korea's protest against the meeting between the leaders of South Korea and Japan

[Pkg]

The Joint Chiefs of Staff says it detected North Korea's long-range ballistic missile fired into the East Sea at 7:10 a.m. Thursday. The missile was launched from the Sunan area in Pyongyang. Fired from a high angle, it flew one thousand kilometers and fell into the East Sea. Japan reported that the missile flew for 69 minutes before plunging into the sea about 200km west of Hokkaido at around 8:18 a.m. It presumably landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. No damage on ships or aircraft has been reported so far. South Korean and American intel officials are analyzing the launch based on the latest missile development trends in North Korea. The missile launch is believed to be an expression of protest against a summit between the South Korean and Japanese leaders scheduled for Thursday in Tokyo. The two countries have been strengthening security cooperation recently in the form of trilateral military drills among South Korea, the U.S and Japan. The focus of cooperation is on response measures against Pyongyang's ballistic missile provocations. Four days after the regime fired the Hwasong-15 ICBM on Feb. 18, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan held missile defense exercises in the East Sea. Pyongyang has been diversifying its military provocations lately. On March 9 it fired six short-range ballistic missiles from Nampo into the West Sea. On March 12 it launched two cruise missiles from a submarine from the Sinpo area. Pyongyang is apparently trying to heighten military tensions in response to the Freedom Shield exercise, which began on March 13 to counter the North's continued provocations. Seoul and Washington's military officials are closely monitoring the developments using surveillance and recon assets. South Korea's military says it has stepped up surveillance and is closely cooperating with the U.S. to maintain defense readiness.