The nation launched a close-range ballistic missile and other weapons towards the sea, South Korea’s military said.
The missile fired from Jongju, near the North’s west coast, flew about 80km, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. North Korea launched other kinds of projectiles, it said, but didn’t elaborate.
South Korea’s military, under a solid alliance with the US, maintains a readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. South Korea’s military has bolstered a surveillance posture, it said.
It was North Korea’s first weapons launch event since April 19, when the country 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 expressed his desire to resume talks with Kim, but Pyongyang has so far ignored the overtures and urged Washington to drop demands for the North’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks. — AP
