SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea says North Korea has fired an unidentified projectile into the North’s eastern sea, in what appears to be its second weapons launch in a week.
The firing of the projectile comes as North Korea continues to demonstrate its military might amid a self-imposed pandemic lockdown and deadlocked nuclear talks with the United States.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North fired at least one weapon early Tuesday but didn’t immediate say whether it was ballistic or how far it flew.
The launch came six days after the North fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Jan. 5 in what it later described as a successful test of a hypersonic missile.
That test came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a key political conference vowed to bolster his military forces despite pandemic-related difficulties.
U.S.-led diplomacy on North Korea’s nuclear program has been stalled since 2019 due to disputes over international sanctions on the North. The Biden administration has repeatedly called for resuming the nuclear diplomacy “anywhere and at any time” without preconditions, but North Korea has argued the U.S. must first withdraw its hostility against it before any talks can restart.
The Associated Press
