North Korea continues run of weapons tests with ballistic missile launch

Firing of short-range weapon comes as the US and South Korea stage major military drills

North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile, Seoul’s military has said, in the fourth such weapons test in a week, which comes as South Korea and the United States stage major military drills.

“Our military detected one short-range ballistic missile fired from around the Tongchang-ri area in North Pyongan province at 11.05 am towards the East Sea,” South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said on Sunday, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

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North Korea test launches ICBM as South Korea and Japan leaders set to meet

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol says North will pay a price for launch on eve of Tokyo summit

North Korea has test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a display of military might, just hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan were to meet at a Tokyo summit that was expected to be overshadowed by Kim Jong-un’s nuclear threats.

The launch on Thursday, the North’s first ICBM test in a month and third weapons test this week, also comes as South Korean and US troops continue joint military exercises that Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal to invade.

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North Korea escalates tensions with fresh ballistic missile tests

Launch comes days after Pyongyang fired two ‘strategic’ missiles in an apparent protest over Washington-Seoul military drills

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles Tuesday, Seoul said, Pyongyang’s second launch in three days and the first since South Korea and the United States began their largest joint military drills in five years.

Washington and Seoul have ramped up defence cooperation in the face of growing military and nuclear threats from the North, which has conducted a series of increasingly provocative banned weapons tests in recent months.

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North Korea fires cruise missiles as US-South Korean military drills begin

Test came as Washington and Seoul prepared to kick-off their largest joint military exercises in five years

Nuclear-armed North Korea test-fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine on Sunday, state news agency KCNA reported, just as US-South Korea military drills were due to begin.

“Strategic” is typically used to describe weapons that have a nuclear capability.

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North Korea’s Kim Jong-un sounds alarm on agriculture amid reports of food shortages

Leader says agriculture needs ‘fundamental transformation’ and makes hitting grain targets a priority as country isolated by sanctions struggles

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has urged government officials to engineer a “fundamental transformation” in agricultural production, state media reported, amid fears that the country’s food shortage is worsening.

Kim said hitting grain production targets this year was a priority and emphasised the importance of stable agriculture production during the second day of a key meeting of the Workers’ party, the state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday.

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North Korea test-fires four missiles to show ability to launch nuclear attack

Strategic cruise missiles hit a target after travelling 2,000km, says state media, to demonstrate ‘war posture’ of nuclear force

North Korea test-fired four strategic cruise missiles during a drill designed to demonstrate its ability to conduct a nuclear counterattack against hostile forces, its state media said.

The exercise on Thursday involved an apparently operational strategic cruise missile unit of the Korean people’s army, which fired the four Hwasal-2 missiles in the area of Kim Chaek city, North Hamgyong province, towards the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, the news agency KCNA said. Other units conducted firepower training at hardened sites without live firing.

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‘Poisoned candy’: North Korean state media shuns food aid despite hunger crisis

South Korea warns that death from starvation appears to be rising in many of the North’s provinces

The major North Korean state newspaper Rodong Sinmun has said that relying on external aid to cope with food shortages would be the same as taking “poisoned candy”, amid a national crisis and a reported increase in deaths from starvation.

North Korea has suffered food shortages in recent years, brought on by natural disasters, international sanctions aimed at curbing its nuclear and missile programmes, and a sharp cut in trade with China due to border closures and Covid-19 lockdowns.

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North Korea fires two more ballistic missiles off its east coast – video

Pyongyang announced the launch of two ballistic missiles, two days after firing an intercontinental ballistic missile into the sea off Japan's west coast. The move prompted joint military exercises by the US and South Korea, with Japan's government condemning the missiles as 'unacceptable'

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North Korea launches more missiles as Kim sister warns Pacific could become ‘firing range’

Kim Yo-jong blames escalation on US forces in the region, as head of South Korea’s ruling party calls for Seoul to have its own nuclear deterrent

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast Monday, South Korea’s military said, as the powerful sister of the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, warned the nuclear-armed state could turn the Pacific into a “firing range”.

The tests prompted the head of the ruling party in South Korea to warn that continued provocations by Pyongyang would only strengthen calls for the South to develop its own nuclear deterrent – a move that would dramatically raise tensions on the peninsula.

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North Korea fires ballistic missile off east coast

Pyongyang confirms rapid launch drill after warning of strong response to upcoming US-South Korea military exercises

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile toward the sea off its east coast, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said, after Pyongyang warned of a strong response to upcoming US-South Korea military drills.

Japan’s coastguard also said North Korea fired what could be a ballistic missile on Saturday.

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North Korea puts on biggest ICBM display yet, with Kim Jong-un’s daughter centre stage

Kim Ju-ae attends anniversary military parade and banquet at which Kim Jong-un praises ‘strongest army in the world’

North Korea has put on its biggest display yet of long-range missiles at a parade to mark a key military anniversary, as speculation grows that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, is grooming his daughter as a possible successor.

State media said the nuclear-armed North displayed multiple long-range missiles at a parade late on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of its army, with analysts saying they included what appeared to be a new, solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

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Japan and North Korea sound warning as deadly cold snap sweeps across Asia

Extreme weather kills at least one person in Japan and more than 100 in Afghanistan while parts of China hit record low temperatures

Weather authorities in Japan and the Korean peninsula have issued warnings over freezing temperatures and gales that have killed at least one person, and stranded thousands.

Severe cold weather has already caused fatalities, havoc and record low temperatures across the region in the last fortnight, with at least 124 people dead in Afghanistan and record lows of -53C in northeastern China.

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North Korea locks down capital Pyongyang over respiratory illness

Residents told that rising cases mean they must stay home for five days and do frequent temperature checks

Authorities in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, have ordered a five-day lockdown due to rising cases of an unspecified respiratory illness, Seoul-based NK News reported on Wednesday, citing a government notice.

The notice did not mention Covid-19, but said that residents in the city were required to stay in their homes until the end of Sunday and submit to temperature checks multiple times each day, according to NK News, which monitors North Korea.

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Kim Jong-un vows to ‘exponentially’ increase nuclear warhead production

North Korean leader marks New Year with fresh ballistic missile launch just hours into 2023

Kim Jong-un has vowed to ramp up the production of nuclear warheads and build a more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), while singling out South Korea as his country’s “undoubted enemy”, North Korean state media reported on Sunday.

In a sign of deepening animosity towards the US, South Korea and Japan, Kim called for an “exponential increase” in the regime’s nuclear arsenal during an address at a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ party that ended on Saturday.

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North Korea fires three ballistic missiles in latest tests

Launches come five days after country reportedly flew drones into South Korea’s airspace

North Korea fired three ballistic missiles towards the sea east of the Korean Peninsula on Saturday, the South Korean military said.

The launches were the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests conducted by North Korea this year, as Pyongyang presses on with weapons development amid speculation it could test a nuclear weapon for a seventh time.

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