While Trump in an interview recently called North Korea a 'nuclear power' hinting a prospective meeting with Kim, the North on Sunday vowed 'toughest response' to US, South Korea for their continued military drills 'targeting' Pyongyang.
North Korea has fired at least one missile into the eastern sea while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken undertakes Seoul visit, claims South Korea. However, there's no confirmation about the number of missiles fired and the extent to which it travelled.
North Korea had last fired ballistic missiles on Thursday last week, the latest in deteriorating relations between the two Koreas. The US, Ukraine and other allies have accused Pyongyang of supplying rockets and missiles to Russia to be used against Ukraine.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff condemned the launch as a provocation and vowed to repel aggressions by Pyongyang as tensions rose. This came after two US F-22 raptors participated in a joint military drill with South Korea, which North Korea sees as a security threat.
South Korea's military on Monday condemned the North's latest missile launch, which Pyongyang claimed was a new solid-fuel hypersonic missile with intermediate range.
Kim stressed the need to “never overlook all the reckless and irresponsible military threats of the enemies … and to strongly counter them with more offensive actions".
Kim said he would bolster efforts to build powerful warships and modernize shipboard and underwater weapons systems for the North's navy.
The critical remarks from Kim Yo-jong came as both the US and South Korea agreed to intensify nuclear deterrence to counter the North’s nuclear threat.
On Sunday, Japan said no damage was reported from the missile, which landed within Japan's exclusive economic zone, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Oshima island. Oshima lies off the western coast of the northernmost main island of Hokkaido.
North Korea spy satellite: North Korea, on Monday, said it fired a test satellite in an important final-stage test for the development of its first spy satellite.
Japan national security strategy: Tokyo on Friday unveiled the biggest shift in its security plan by adopting a national security strategy amid fears of being targetted by China and North Korea.
The ICBM test was followed by launches of two short-range ballistic missiles in the morning, drawing swift condemnation by North Korea’s neighbors and the United States, which reacted by extending ongoing joint air force exercises with South Korea.
North Korea has dialed up its testing activities to a record pace in 2022, testing more than 30 ballistic weapons, including its first intercontinental ballistic missiles since 2017, as it continues to expand its military capabilities amid a prolonged stalemate in nuclear diplomacy.
Japan's Defense Ministry said the projectile fired by North Korea was a possible ballistic missile.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapons, which were likely short-range, were launched from an eastern coastal area, but it didn’t immediately say how far they flew.
In September, North Korea resumed its first missile tests in six months but still offered conditional talks with Seoul in what some experts say is an attempt to extract concessions in its nuclear diplomacy with the U.S.
What the North fired appears to be a new type of short-range ballistic missiles, but more analysis was needed, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, adding that it has convened an emergency meeting of security-related ministers to discuss the development.
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