By The South Asia Times

SEOUL: North Korea on Sunday fired another short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea, South Korea's military claimed 

The missile test carried out just two day after a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier arrived here for allied drills, Yonhap News Agency reported.

“North Korea fired the missile from an area in or around Taechon, North Pyongan Province, at 6:53 a.m., and that it flew some 600 kilometers at an apogee of around 60 km at a top speed of Mach 5,” said South Korean military.

The launch came as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Seoul later this week and the allies are set to hold a joint maritime exercise in the East Sea, involving the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group.

Soon after the launch, JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum and Gen. Paul LaCamera, the commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, meet and discussed the latest situation.

"They reaffirmed that through the planned South Korea-U.S. maritime exercise and other efforts, they would further solidify a combined defense posture against any North Korean threats and provocations," the agency quoted the JCS as saying.

It strongly urged the North to immediately stop all ballistic missile tests, saying such a launch is an act of "significant provocation that undermines peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula as well as in the international community," and a "clear" breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

"While monitoring and tracking North Korean movements to prepare against any additional provocation in close cooperation with the U.S., our military will maintain a firm readiness posture based on the capability to respond overwhelmingly to any North Korean provocation," the JCS said.