The missile launch happened after hundreds of balloons carrying trash and excrement across the heavily fortified border to South Korea on Wednesday as a "gift". Tensions have increased between the two Koreas due to weapons tests by North and combined military exercises in the South.
North Korea flew hundreds of balloons carrying trash and manure toward South Korea in one of its most bizarre provocations against its rival in years, prompting the South’s military to mobilise chemical and explosive response teams to recover objects and debris in different parts of the country.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in that a North Korean rocket was launched in a southern direction off the Korean Peninsula’s west coast. It said four minutes after the launch, many fragments were spotted in the waters.
North Korea notified Japan of its plan to launch a rocket carrying a space satellite towards the Yellow Sea and east of Luzon Island between May 27 and June 4, the Japan Coast Guard said.
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.
Kim's message of solidarity for Putin came as Russia celebrates Victory Day, which marks the 79th anniversary of the Soviet Union's win against Nazi Germany in WWII. The US and its allies have accused North Korea of providing weapons to Russia to be used in Ukraine.
North Korea has ramped up nuclear weapons development under Kim Jong Un in recent years, prompting the US and South Korea to hold military drills in a show of force. Last week, Pyongyang tested a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile powered with solid propellants.
Tensions are high in the Korean peninsula as North Korea has intensified weapons tests in response to expanded military drills between South Korea and the US. Earlier this year, North Korea launched a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time that can target the US mainland.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff condemned North Korea's ballistic missile testing in the wake of US-South Korean military drills. Tensions between the two Koreas are at their highest as Kim Jong Un rejected reunification with the South.
Kim drove the new tank during a mock drill to inspect the combat capabilities of tank crews and make them familiar with combat action in different missions. The mock battle comes as joint annual drills involving South Korea and the US were due to wrap up on Thursday.
North Korea has reacted sharply to joint military drills held by the US and South Korea, viewing them as an invasion for rehearsal. Pyongyang has already six rounds of missile tests in 2024, while Washington and Seoul responded by ramping up military drills and increasing the number of exercises.
North Korea's Kim Jong Un received a car gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin, potentially breaching U.N. sanctions. The exchange highlighted deepening ties between the nations amid international isolation over conflicts and nuclear ambitions.
There are tens and thousands of North Korean workers overseas who generate foreign currency for the sanction-hit regime and are unable to return home. These protests in China over unpaid wages is rarely heard of, given the near-complete control of the state over citizens.
North Korea has launched cruise missiles four times into the waters this year after the January 14 launch of an intermediate-range missile, heightening concerns of a nuclear conflict. These launches are aimed towards creating a nuclear-armed navy to deter what Pyongyang calls US-led confrontations.
Since 2021, North Korea has conducted at least 10 rounds of tests of what it described as long-range cruise missiles fired from both land and sea.
South Korea's defence minister Shin Won-sik condemned the launches and warned that Kim Jong Un's regime would meet its demise in case of a war. North Korea has accelerated its weapons development and nuclear threats toward growing cooperation between the US and its Asian allies.
The North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Putin reaffirmed his willingness to visit Pyongyang and said that he could come at an “early date.”
The drones are among a broad range of weapon systems demonstrated recently as tensions between North Korea and the US grow. The ministry's unnamed spokesman accused the United States, South Korea and Japan of "getting frantic" with military exercises and warned of "catastrophic consequences".
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said during a visit to Moscow that ties with Russia were developing in line with the plans of the two countries leaders, a deepening of a relationship that the United States and its allies view with concern.
Kim Jong Un asserted that Pyongyang hould also plan for "completely occupying, subjugating and reclaiming" South Korea in the event of a war as tensions reach an all-time high. Kim had already denied seeking reconciliation with the South after the latter's military drills with the US.
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