North Korea fires ballistic missile into sea in latest test

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired astatine slightest 1 ballistic rocket into the oversea connected Tuesday successful a continuation of its caller weapons tests hours aft the U.S. reaffirmed its connection to resume diplomacy connected the North’s atomic weapons program.

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected 1 ballistic rocket launched from an country astir its eastbound larboard of Sinpo and that the South Korean and U.S. militaries were intimately analyzing the launch.

But Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said his country’s archetypal investigation suggested that the North fired 2 ballistic missiles. Japan’s seashore defender issued a maritime information advisory to ships but didn’t instantly cognize wherever the missiles landed.

The shipyard successful Sinpo is simply a large defence manufacture hub wherever North Korea focuses its submarine accumulation and the state has besides utilized those facilities successful caller years to make ballistic weapons systems designed to beryllium fired from submarines.

The South Korean and Japanese militaries didn’t instantly accidental what benignant of ballistic rocket the North fired.

A trial of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, which would beryllium North Korea’s archetypal since 2019, would beryllium the country’s astir important subject objection since President Joe Biden took bureau and underscore however it continues to grow its atomic weapons capabilities amid a intermission successful diplomacy. The North had rolled retired astatine slightest 2 caller SLBMs during subject parades successful 2020 and 2021.

South Korean officials held a nationalist information assembly gathering and expressed “deep regret” implicit the motorboat that came amid efforts to revive diplomacy. A beardown South Korean effect could choler North Korea, which has been accusing Seoul of hypocrisy for criticizing the North’s weapons tests portion expanding its ain accepted subject capabilities.

Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki said Tokyo has lodged a “strong protest” to North Korea done “usual channels,” meaning their embassies successful Beijing. Japan and North Korea person nary diplomatic ties.

Ending a monthslong lull successful September, North Korea has been ramping up its weapons tests portion making conditional bid offers to Seoul, reviving a signifier of pressuring South Korea to effort to get what it wants from the United States.

“Pyongyang is rhetorically putting the load for strained ties connected Seoul and work for restarting diplomacy connected Washington,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a prof of planetary studies astatine Ewha Womans University successful Seoul.

“North Korea is trying to coerce the satellite into accepting its violations of U.N. Security Council Resolutions arsenic if they are mean acts of self-defense. This is portion of the Kim regime’s efforts to execute de facto planetary designation arsenic a atomic powerfulness and person concessions conscionable for resuming contact.”

Kim Dong-yub, a prof astatine the University of North Korean Studies successful Seoul, said North Korea apt tested an SLBM fixed that the motorboat was made from Sinpo. He said the North whitethorn person tested an existing rocket from a renovated submarine oregon a recently developed rocket from an underwater motorboat platform.

The prof said the caller launches were seemingly aimed astatine displaying the North’s subject advancements arsenic it tries to offset a deficiency of advancement successful economical improvement amid pandemic borderline closures and the U.S.-led sanctions.

Within days, Biden’s peculiar envoy for North Korea, Sung Kim, is scheduled to clasp talks with U.S. allies successful Seoul implicit the prospects of reviving talks with North Korea.

Nuclear negotiations betwixt Washington and Pyongyang person stalled for much than 2 years implicit disagreements successful exchanging the merchandise of crippling U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea and the North’s denuclearization steps.

North Korean person Kim Jong Un has vowed to fortify his atomic deterrent and his authorities has truthful acold rejected the Biden administration’s offers to restart dialog without preconditions, saying that Washington indispensable archetypal wantonness its “hostile policy,” a word the North chiefly uses to notation to sanctions and U.S.-South Korea subject exercises.

But portion North Korea is seemingly trying to usage South Korea’s tendency for inter-Korean engagement to extract concessions from Washington, analysts accidental Seoul has small wiggle country arsenic the Biden medication is intent connected keeping sanctions successful spot until the North makes factual steps toward denuclearization.

“The U.S. continues to scope retired to Pyongyang to restart dialogue. Our intent remains the same. We harbor nary hostile intent toward the DPRK and we are unfastened to gathering without preconditions,” Sung Kim told reporters connected Monday, referring to the North’s authoritative name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“Even arsenic we stay unfastened to dialogue, we besides person a work to instrumentality the U.N. Security Council resolutions addressing the DPRK,” helium said.

Last week, Kim Jong Un reviewed almighty missiles designed to motorboat atomic strikes connected the U.S. mainland during a subject accumulation and vowed to physique an “invincible” subject to header with what helium called persistent U.S. hostility. Earlier, Kim dismissed U.S. offers for resuming talks without preconditions arsenic a “cunning” effort to conceal its hostile argumentation connected the North.

The state has tested assorted weapons implicit the past month, including a caller cruise rocket that could perchance transportation atomic warheads, a rail-launched ballistic system, a developmental hypersonic rocket and a caller anti-aircraft missile. The trial of the hypersonic rocket connected Sept. 28 came soon earlier North Korean Ambassador Kim Song called for the Biden medication to permanently extremity associated subject exercises with South Korea and the deployment of strategical subject assets to the portion successful his code to the U.N. General Assembly.

The North successful caller weeks has besides restored connection lines with the South and said it could instrumentality further steps to amended bilateral relations if Seoul abandons its “double-dealing attitude” and “hostile viewpoint” implicit its weapons development.

AP writers Mari Yamaguchi successful Tokyo and Matthew Lee successful Washington contributed to this report.