North Korea fires ballistic missile, confirms S Korea

of the Sea of Japan.

The missile "flew eastward from the vicinity of Pyongyang" toward the Sea of Japan, South Korean military officials said.

It was fired in the middle of the night (local time) on Wednesday, a US official said to Fox News, which seemed to have landed within exclusive economic zone of Japan.

Japan's Prime Minister's Office said: "North Korea launched a missile that has the possibility of arriving in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of our country."

This is North Korea's first missile attack since September 15 when it fired an intermediate-range missile, which flew over Hokkaido Island in Japan before and into the Pacific Ocean.

"South Korean unification minister Cho Myoung-gyon told foreign correspondents in Seoul on Tuesday that North Korea is on the verge of achieving full nuclear capability with an intercontinental ballistic missile that could carry a nuclear warhead," Fox news quoted a local news agency.