SEOUL, Dec  17, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - North Korea fired a short-range ballistic

missile on Sunday, Seoul's military said, as the United States and South Korea
warned any nuclear attack would lead to the end of Pyongyang's regime.

"Our military detected a short-range ballistic missile launched from the
Pyongyang area towards the East Sea at around 22:38 (1338 GMT) on Sunday,"
Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known
as the Sea of Japan.

The missile flew around 570 kilometres (354 miles) before landing in the
East Sea, it said, adding that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have "closely shared
information regarding North Korea's ballistic missile."

Japan's defence ministry also said North Korea launched "what appears to be
a ballistic missile", with its coastguard adding that it seemed to have already
fallen.

The test comes as Seoul and Washington warned Pyongyang that any nuclear
attack on the United States and South Korea would result in the end of the
North Korean regime.

The two allies held their second session of the Nuclear Consultative Group
in Washington on Friday, where they discussed nuclear deterrence in the event
of conflict with the North.

A spokesperson for the North's defence ministry on Sunday slammed the
allies' plans to expand a key annual joint military drill next year to include
a nuclear operation drill and warned of "a preemptive and deadly counteraction".

"This is an open declaration on nuclear confrontation to make the use of
nuclear weapons against the DPRK a fait accompli," the statement carried by the
KCNA news agency said, using the official acronym for North Korea.

"The hostile forces' any attempt to use armed forces against the DPRK will
face a preemptive and deadly counteraction," it added.

The missile launch also comes as Pyongyang marks the anniversary of the
death of leader Kim Jong Un's father and predecessor Kim Jong Il who died on
December 17, 2011.

North Korea last year declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear power and
has repeatedly said it will never give up its nuclear programme, which the
regime views as essential for its survival.

And last month Pyongyang successfully put a military spy satellite into
orbit. It has since claimed its eye in the sky was already providing images of
major US and South Korean military sites.

The UN Security Council has adopted many resolutions calling on North Korea
to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes since it first conducted a
nuclear test in 2006.