WASHINGTON, May 1: North Korea apparently fired a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan, a senior White House official said on Sunday, calling on US allies to work with Washington to demonstrate that Pyongyang’s actions are “inappropriate.” “It appears that there was a test of a short-range missile by the North Koreans and it landed in the Sea of Japan,” White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said in an interview with CNN’s “Late Edition.”

“We’re not surprised by this. The North Koreans have tested their missiles before. They’ve had some failures,” Card said.

The United States has backed six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear programme, but the talks — which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan — have stalled since last year.

“We have to work together with our allies around the world — especially the Japanese, the South Koreans, the Russians and the Chinese — to demonstrate that North Korea’s actions are inappropriate,” he said.

“We don’t want them to have any nuclear weapons, we don’t want the Korean peninsula to have any nuclear weapons on it.”

Earlier, Card told Fox News on Sunday: “We know what their intent is and we’re trying to keep a good close eye on them.” The missile test follows an assessment by the director of the Defence Intelligence Agency last week that North Korea is believed capable of arming a long-range missile with a nuclear warhead and has the ability to deploy a two-stage intercontinental missile that could successfully hit US territory.

DIA director Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby made his remarks in testimony on Thursday before US Senate’s Armed Services Committee, telling lawmakers that the range of North Korean weapons could reach “certainly Alaska and Hawaii, and I believe a portion of the northwest United States.”

Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita later played down Jacoby’s remarks, although he did not deny them. He said the assessment was not new and emphasized it was theoretical in nature.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the missile was fired on Sunday from the east coast of North Korea and flew about 100 kilometres until it fell into the sea. Jiji Press said the test came at about 8:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday) and only consisted of one missile.

According to Kyodo News, Japan was informed of the test by the US military and cabinet members were told to prepare for an emergency.

“I think they (North Koreans) are looking to kind of be bullies in the world and they’re causing others to stand up and take notice, but they’re not very constructive leaders,” Card told Fox News Sunday.—AFP