North Korea has launched at least one ballistic missile into waters off its eastern coast, the South Korean military said on Sunday, the latest in a long series of tests.
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“North Korea fired one or more unidentified ballistic missiles in the East Sea,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the Sea of Japan.
Pyongyang has stepped up efforts to improve its weapons program this year, despite heavy economic sanctions.
US and South Korean leaders have been warning for weeks that Kim Jong-un’s regime might carry out a seventh nuclear test.
In May, it test-fired three missiles, including the Hwasong-17, which may be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile. That launch came a few days following US President Joe Biden left South Korea, where he met his recently elected counterpart Yoon Seok-youl.
North Korea, hit by a strong COVID-19 epidemic wave, has resumed construction of a long-dormant nuclear reactor, new satellite images show.
