At 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, something rose from the coastline near Wonsan and arced east over the sea. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed it within minutes: North Korea had fired another ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan.

It was the second such launch in less than a week, and it landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. No damage was reported. Japan's Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi called it "a threat to peace and security in our region" at a press conference in Tokyo, and said Japan had already lodged a strong protest with Pyongyang through diplomatic channels in Beijing. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ordered his government to maintain a complete state of readiness.

Japan, the United States and South Korea began a close joint analysis of the missile's flight data almost immediately. The timing was not accidental. Just two days earlier, Seoul and Washington had announced the start of their annual joint military drills, scheduled for August 17. These exercises are a regular summer feature, designed to sharpen the allies' coordinated defense against a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Pyongyang has long denounced them as rehearsals for invasion.