North Korea fires ballistic missile into sea in latest test

The South Korean and Japanese armies claimed North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Tuesday, continuing its recent weapons tests, only hours after the US renewed its invitation to resume negotiations on the North's nuclear weapons development. The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States of America did not immediately say what type of ballistic missile it was or how far it flew. The Japanese coast guard issued a maritime safety warning to ships, but it was unclear where the weapon had fallen.

The presidential office of South Korea had planned to call a meeting of the national security council to discuss the launch. North Korea has accused Seoul of hypocrisy for criticising the North's weapons tests while expanding its own conventional military capabilities. A strong South Korean response could enrage North Korea. North Korea resumed its weapons tests in September after a months-long hiatus, while making conditional peace proposals to Seoul, resuming a pattern of pressing South Korea to get what it wants from the US. Sung Kim, President Joe Biden's special envoy for North Korea, is set to meet with US allies in Seoul in the coming days to discuss the chances for rapprochement.

Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been stuck for more than two years due to disputes on how to exchange the lifting of severe US-led sanctions on North Korea in exchange for the North's disarmament efforts. Since his diplomatic spat with then-President Donald Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to bolster his nuclear deterrence. His government has so far refused the Biden administration's proposals to reopen talks without restrictions, claiming that Washington must first end its "hostile policy," which the North mostly refers to sanctions and joint military drills between the US and South Korea.