North Korea fired a ballistic missile Tuesday, Seoul said, Pyongyang’s second launch in three days and the first since South Korea and the US began their largest joint military drills in five years.

Iran PressAsia: A ballistic missile was fired by North Korea on Tuesday, said Seoul. This is the second launch by Pyongyang in three days and the first since the United States and South Korea began their largest joint military drills in a span of five years.

The missile has been fired just days after two "strategic cruise missiles" were launched by Pyongyang from a submarine in what looked like a protest over the US-South Korea drills.

The drills, which are known as Freedom Shield, started on Monday and will continue for 10 days as part of the drive of the allies to counter the growing threats of North Korea.

In a rare step, the military of Seoul this month announced the special forces units of the allies were staging military exercises called "Teak Knife" - which include simulating precision strikes on North Korea's key facilities - ahead of Freedom Shield. 219