North Korea launches ballistic missiles over the sea in latest show of force
South Korea's military says the close-range missile flew about 80 kilometers in Pyongyang's first weapons launch since April and the latest in a series of demonstrations this year
North Korea launched a close-range ballistic missile and other weapons toward the sea on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, in the latest of a series of weapons demonstrations by Pyongyang this year.
The missile, fired from Jongju, a city near North Korea's west coast, flew about 80 kilometers (50 miles), South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The military said North Korea had also launched other kinds of projectiles but did not elaborate.
South Korea's military, in alliance with the US, was maintaining readiness to repel any provocations and had bolstered its surveillance posture, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. It was the North's first weapons launch since April 19, when it fired multiple short-range missiles in what state media described as a demonstration of cluster bomb warheads.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has focused on expanding his nuclear and missile arsenals since his nuclear diplomacy with US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to resume talks, but Pyongyang has ignored the attempts and urged Washington to drop demands for nuclear disarmament as a precondition for negotiations. Kim has also taken an increasingly hard-line stance toward South Korea, calling it his country's permanent and most hostile enemy.
During a Cabinet meeting earlier Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for stronger efforts to advance the country's military, emphasizing artificial intelligence and drone capabilities and the potential acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine. Lee, a liberal who favors improved ties with North Korea, did not specifically comment on the latest launch but stressed the importance of demonstrating the "resolve to take responsibility for and protect our own security ourselves."