North Korea launches ballistic missile as Blinken visits Seoul
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy North Korea fired a ballistic missile out to sea off its east coast on Monday, South Korea’s military reported. open image in gallery A man walks past a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile out to sea off its east coast, in Seoul A few days earlier, North Korea had fired its largest intercontinental missile, which flew a record distance in a demonstration that it could strike the US. According to the 2024 annual threat assessment prepared by US intelligence agencies, Mr Kim views nuclear weapons as central to North Korea’s security and deterrence strategy. open image in gallery North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech at a meeting in Pyongyang “North Korea also unveiled a purported tactical nuclear warhead and claimed it could be mounted on at least eight delivery systems, including an unmanned underwater vehicle and cruise missiles,” the assessment states.