North Korea said on Friday that its latest ballistic missile launch was a countermeasure to the South Korean military's "provocative action" near their border.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) said early on Friday that the North fired one short-range ballistic missile(SRBM) toward the East Sea from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 1:49 a.m.

A spokesperson for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army(KPA) in Pyongyang reportedly said in a statement that the South Korean military conducted artillery drills near the border for ten hours on Thursday.

In the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA), the spokesperson said that North Korea takes this provocation seriously and took strong military countermeasures.

The North then issued a stern warning against the South's "reckless" military activities that escalated tensions in the area.

[Photo : YONHAP News]