North Korea launches another missile toward sea ahead of US-South Korean military drills

Audio By Carbonatix

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Wednesday performed its second ballistic missile test in less than a week, its neighbors said, a likely protest of the upcoming South Korea-U.S. military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said a ballistic missile fired from the North's eastern coastal Wonsan area around 6 a.m. flew more than 700 kilometers (435 miles). It said South Korea remains ready to repel any provocations by North Korea in cooperation with the United States.

South Korea's presidential national security council issued a statement urging North Korea to stop ballistic missile launches, which it said are “acts of provocation” that defy U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from launching ballistic missiles. But North Korea has ramped up ballistic and other weapons testing activities to expand its nuclear and missile arsenals since Kim’s high-stakes diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019. Experts say Kim likely hopes to use his enlarged arsenals to wrest concessions from the U.S., such as relaxing of international economic sanctions on the North.

Japan’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it also spotted a suspected ballistic missile launch from North Korea. It said it didn't detect the weapon reaching Japan’s exclusive economic zone, suggesting it was believed to have fallen further away from the Japanese coast.

The latest launch came two days after South Korea and the United States announced they will kick off their annual large-scale military drills on Aug. 17 to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.

North Korea has previously responded to the Ulchi Freedom Shield training and other major South Korea-U.S. military exercises with provocative weapons tests and harsh rhetoric. The U.S. and South Korea have repeatedly said their training is defensive in nature.

After last year's Ulchi Freedom Shield training exercises began, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the drills showed the U.S. and South Korea's “will to ignite a war” and claimed they have grown more provocative than before, which has prompted North Korea to respond with “proactive and overwhelming” countermeasures.

On Aug. 6, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from North Korea in what was the North’s first ballistic weapons testing activity since late June. North Korea didn’t confirm the reported launch, though it usually releases details of weapons tests a day later.

In recent years, Kim has boosted his diplomatic footprint by strengthening cooperation with Russia by supplying troops and ammunition to support its war against Ukraine. He's also recently taken steps to bolster ties with China, the country's traditional ally and economic pipeline. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the North Korean capital Pyongyang in June for the first time in seven years.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.