North Korea fires ballistic missile

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile into the sea off Japan, breaking a two-month lull.

The missile was reportedly fired at about 1830 GMT.

In response, Seoul conducted a "precision strke" excercise with misiles, according to South Korea's official news agency, Yonhap.

Pyongyang's move followed a call on the US and South Korea from Russian deputy foreign minister Igor Morgulov not to carry out further large-scale military exercises.

According to Morgulov, North Korea's "restraint" was in keeping with the simultaneous freeze road map which China and Russia had proposed.

Under such a deal, North Korea would stop its ballistic missile and nuclear tests while the US and Seoul would not conduct large-scale military manouvres.