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Tag: missile test

  • North Korea test-fires two more ballistic missiles, South Korea says

    North Korea test-fires two more ballistic missiles, South Korea says

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    North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern waters Monday, continuing its weapons displays as the United States moved an aircraft carrier strike group to neighboring waters for military exercises with the South.

    South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two missiles were fired from a western inland area south of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang from around 7:47 a.m. to 8 a.m. and traveled around 370 kilometers (229 miles) before landing at sea. Japan’s military said the missiles flew on an “irregular” trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles) before landing outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

    Japan has previously used the term to describe a North Korean solid-fuel missile apparently modeled after Russia’s Iskander mobile ballistic system, which is designed to be maneuverable in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defenses.

    The launches came a day before the American aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group are to arrive at the South Korean port of Busan. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the Nimitz and its strike group will participate in exercises with South Korean warships on April 3 in international waters near the South Korean resort island of Jeju.

    The launches were the North’s seventh missile event this month as it steps up its military demonstrations in a tit-for-tat response to U.S.-South Korea military exercises.

    The South Korean and Japanese militaries denounced the North’s latest launches as serious provocations threatening regional peace and violating U.N. Security Council resolutions and said they were working with the United States to analyze the missiles further.

    The United States and South Korea completed their biggest springtime exercises in years last week, which had included both computer simulations and life-fire field exercises. But the allies have continued their field training in a show of force against North Korea’s expanding nuclear arsenal and belligerent threats of nuclear conflict.

    North Korea has fired more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles across 11 launch events this year as it tries to force the United States to accept its nuclear status and negotiate a removal of sanctions from a position of strength.

    North Korea’s launches this month included a flight-test of an intercontinental ballistic missile and a series of short-range weapons intended to overwhelm South Korean missile defenses as it tries to demonstrate an ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

    The North last week conducted what it described as a three-day exercise that simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean targets as leader Kim Jong Un condemned the U.S.-South Korean joint military drills as invasion rehearsals. The allies say the exercises are defensive in nature.  

    The North’s tests also included a purported nuclear-capable underwater drone that the North claimed is capable of setting off a huge “radioactive tsunami” that would destroy naval vessels and ports. Analysts were skeptical about the North Korean claims about the drone or whether the device presents a major new threat, but the tests underlined the North’s commitment to expand its nuclear threats.

    Following the North’s announcement of the drone test on Friday, South Korea’s air force released details of a five-day joint aerial drill with the United States last week that included live-fire demonstrations of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons. The air force said the exercise was aimed at verifying precision strike capabilities and reaffirming the credibility of Seoul’s “three-axis” strategy against North Korean nuclear threats — preemptively striking sources of attacks, intercepting incoming missiles and neutralizing the North’s leadership and key military facilities.

    North Korea already is coming off a record year in weapons testing, launching more than 70 missiles in 2022, when it also set into law an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes pre-emptive nuclear strikes in a broad range of scenarios where it may perceive its leadership as under threat.

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  • North Korea launches intercontinental ballistic missile ahead of South Korea-Japan summit

    North Korea launches intercontinental ballistic missile ahead of South Korea-Japan summit

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    North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in a display of military might Thursday, just hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan were to meet at a Tokyo summit expected to be overshadowed by North Korean nuclear threats.

    The launch, the North’s first ICBM test in a month and third weapons testing this week, also comes as South Korean and U.S. troops continue joint military exercises that Pyongyang considers a rehearsal to invade.

    South Korea’s military said the North Korean ICBM flew toward the Korean Peninsula’s eastern waters after being launched from North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, around 7:10 a.m. The statement said South Korea’s military is maintaining readiness in close coordination with the United States.

    United States Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the launch “does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, or territory, or to our allies.”

    “The U.S. commitments to the defense of the ROK and Japan, remain ironclad,” the statement read. 

    North Korea missile launch
    People sit near a television showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on March 16, 2023.

    ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images


    National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement provided to CBS News that the U.S. “strongly condemns” the missile test, calling it a “flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.”

    “It only demonstrates that the DPRK continues to prioritize its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the well-being of its people,” Watson said. 

    The Sunan neighborhood is the site of Pyongyang’s international airport and has emerged as a major testing site where the North launched most of its ICBMs in recent years, all flown on a high angle to avoid the territory of neighbors.

    Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the missile likely landed in the waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone after about an hour-long flight. The landing site is about 250 kilometers (155 miles) off the western island of Oshimaoshima, which is close to where other North Korean ICBMs fell in recent months after test-flights.

    Thursday’s launch came hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was to travel to Tokyo for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida aimed at mending frayed ties and solidifying a trilateral security cooperation with the United States to counter North Korean threats.

    After conducting a record number of missile tests last year, North Korea has extended its testing activities this year, including the Feb. 18 launch of its Hwasong-15 ICBM that is designed to strike the U.S. mainland. After that ICBM launch, North Korea said the test was meant to further bolster its “fatal” nuclear attack capacity against its rivals.

    The North’s ongoing aggressive run of weapons tests has been widely expected; leader Kim Jong Un last week ordered his military to be ready to repel what he called “frantic war preparations moves” by his country’s rivals, referring to large ongoing drills between the U.S. and South Korea.

    Pyongyang earlier this week fired cruise missiles from a submarine and sent short-range ballistic missiles across its territory into its eastern sea. Last week, North Korea also fired at least six short-range ballistic missiles from a western coastal area in an exercise supervised by Kim Jong Un, an event state media described as a simulated attack on an unspecified South Korean airfield.

    The U.S.-South Korean drills that began Monday and are scheduled to continue until March 23 include computer simulations and live-fire field exercises.

    Last year, Pyongyang test-fired more than 70 missiles, including nuclear-capable ones that target South Korea, Japan and the U.S. mainland. North Korea said many of those tests were a warning over previous South Korean-U.S. military drills.

    The South Korea-Japan summit was arranged after Yoon’s government last week took a major step toward repairing bilateral ties strained by Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

    His plan – to use local funds to compensate Koreans forced into industrial slave labor during the colonial rule without contributions from Japanese companies that employed them – has met fierce domestic opposition but reflects Yoon’s resolve to improve ties with Japan and boost Seoul-Tokyo-Washington security cooperation.

    Under Kishida, Tokyo has also made a major break from its post-World War II principle of self-defense only, adopting a new national security strategy in December that includes the goals of acquiring preemptive strike capabilities and cruise missiles to counter growing threats from North Korea, China and Russia.

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  • North Korea test launched intercontinental ballistic missile, state media says

    North Korea test launched intercontinental ballistic missile, state media says

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    North Korea on Saturday fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from its capital into the sea off Japan, state media KCNA reported Sunday. The country threatened on Friday to take strong measures against South Korea and the U.S. over their joint military exercises.

    KCNA reported that “the drill was suddenly organized without previous notice,” and that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had personally signed off on the test.

    According to the South Korean and Japanese militaries, the missile was fired on a high angle, apparently to avoid reaching the neighbors’ territories, and traveled about 560 miles at a maximum altitude of 3,500 miles during an hourlong flight.

    The details were similar to North Korea’s Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile test flight in November, which experts said demonstrated potential to reach the U.S. mainland if fired on a normal trajectory. Saturday’s test was of a Hwasong-15, according to KCNA.

    A woman walks past a television showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 18, 2023.
    A woman walks past a television showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 18, 2023.

    Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images


    Japanese government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno said no damage was reported from the missile, which landed within Japan’s exclusive economic zone, about 125 miles west of Oshima island. Oshima lies off the western coast of the northernmost main island of Hokkaido.

    North Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Friday threatened with “unprecedently” strong action against its rivals, after South Korea announced a series of military exercises with the United States aimed at sharpening their response to the North’s growing threats.

    While the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the launch did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory, or its allies, the White House National Security Council said it needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region.

    “It only demonstrates that the DPRK continues to prioritize its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the well-being of its people,” it said, calling it a “flagrant violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

    The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said his national security director, Kim Sung-han, presided over an emergency security meeting that accused the North of escalating regional tensions. It denounced North Korea for accelerating its nuclear arms development despite signs of worsening economic problems and food insecurity, saying such actions would bring only tougher international sanctions.

    Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tokyo was closely communicating with Washington and Seoul over the launch, which he called “an act of violence that escalates provocation toward the international order.”

    The launch was North Korea’s first since Jan. 1, when it test-fired a short-range weapon. It followed a massive military parade in Pyongyang last week, where troops rolled out more than a dozen ICBMs as Kim watched in delight from a balcony.

    The unprecedented number of missiles underscored a continuation of expansion of his country’s military capabilities despite limited resources while negotiations with Washington remain stalemated.

    Those missiles included a new system experts say is possibly linked to the North’s stated desire to acquire a solid-fuel ICBM. North Korea’s existing ICBMs use liquid propellants that require pre-launch injections and cannot remain fueled for prolonged periods. A solid-fuel alternative would take less time to prepare and is easier to move around on vehicles, providing less opportunity to be spotted.

    It wasn’t immediately clear whether Saturday’s launch involved a solid-fuel system.

    North Korea is coming off a record year in weapons demonstrations with more than 70 ballistic missiles fired, including those with potential to reach the U.S. mainland. The North also conducted a slew of launches it described as simulated nuclear attacks against South Korean and U.S. targets in response to the allies’ resumption of large-scale joint military exercise that had been downsized for years.

    North Korea’s missile tests have been punctuated by threats of preemptive nuclear attacks against South Korea or the U.S. over what it perceives as a broad range of scenarios that put its leadership under threat.

    Kim doubled down on his nuclear push entering 2023, calling for an “exponential increase” in the country’s nuclear warheads, mass production of battlefield tactical nuclear weapons targeting “enemy” South Korea and the development of more advanced ICBMs.

    South Korea’s Defense Ministry officials told lawmakers earlier that Seoul and Washington will hold an annual computer-simulated combined training in mid-March. The 11-day training will reflect North Korea’s nuclear threats, as well as unspecified lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, according to Heo Tae-keun, South Korea’s deputy minister of national defense policy. Heo said the countries will also conduct joint field exercises in mid-March that would be bigger than those held in the past few years.

    South Korea and the U.S. will also hold a one-day tabletop exercise next week at the Pentagon to sharpen a response to a potential use of nuclear weapons by North Korea.

    AFP contributed reporting to this article.

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  • North Korea fires two ballistic missiles days after joint U.S.-South Korea drills, South says

    North Korea fires two ballistic missiles days after joint U.S.-South Korea drills, South says

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    Seoul, South Korea — North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Friday, South Korea’s military said, its latest weapons demonstration that came days after U.S. and South Korean warplanes conducted joint drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.

    South Korea’s military detected the missile launches from North Korea’s capital region at around 4:32 p.m., South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It said the South Korean military has strengthened its surveillance posture and is maintaining readiness with close coordination with the United States.

    The U.S. flew nuclear-capable bombers and advanced stealth jets near the Korean Peninsula for joint training with South Korean warplanes on Tuesday. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the drills were part of a bilateral agreement on boosting a U.S. commitment to defend its Asian ally with all available military capabilities, including nuclear.

    2.jpg
    A B-52 fighter jet was part of joint U.S. drills with South Korea on Tuesday, December 20th, 2022.

    Joint Chiefs of Staff


    North Korea typically calls such military exercises by the U.S. and South Korea an invasion rehearsal, though the allies have steadfastly said they have no intention of attacking the North.

    The South Korea-U.S. training came after North Korea recently claimed to have conducted key tests needed to develop its first military spy satellite and a new strategic weapon, a likely reference to a more mobile intercontinental ballistic missile.

    North Korea said it launched a pair of rockets Sunday to test cameras and other systems for the development of its first military reconnaissance satellite. Its state media published low-resolution photos of South Korean cities as viewed from space.

    Some civilian experts in South Korea and elsewhere said the photos were too crude for surveillance purposes and that the launches were likely a cover for tests of North Korea’s missile technology. South Korea’s military said North Korea fired two medium-range ballistic missiles.

    Such assessments have infuriated North Korea, with the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issuing crude insults of unidentified South Korean experts. Kim Yo Jong said there was no reason to use an expensive, high-resolution camera for a single-shot test and that North Korea’s space agency used two old missiles as space launch vehicles.

    North Korea has test-launched a barrage of missiles this year, including nuclear-capable ballistic weapons designed to strike the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan. North Korea said it was compelled to carry out such tests to respond to previous military drills between the United States and South Korea. 


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  • North Korea test fires 2 ballistic missiles, Seoul says

    North Korea test fires 2 ballistic missiles, Seoul says

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    North Korea fired a pair of ballistic missiles on Sunday toward its eastern waters, its first weapons test in a month and coming two days after it claimed to have performed a key test needed to build a more mobile, powerful intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the U.S. mainland.

    South Korea’s military detected the launch of two North Korean ballistic missiles from its northwest Tongchangri area. The missiles flew across the country toward its eastern waters, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

    It said the missiles were fired about 50 minutes apart but gave no further details, like precisely what type of weapons North Korea fired and how far they flew. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said South Korea’s military has bolstered its surveillance posture and maintains a readiness in close coordination with the United States.

    Japanese officials also said they spotted the two missile launches from North Korea. Its coast guard said the missiles fired from North Korea fell in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Japanese coast guard officials said both missiles landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

    North Korea missile launch
     A TV screen shows a North Korea missile launch during a news program at the Yongsan Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 19, 2022. 

    KIM Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images


    The Tongchangri area is home to North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Ground, where the country in past years launched satellite-carrying long-range rockets in what the U.N. called a disguised test of ICBM technology.

    On Thursday, in the Sohae facility, North Korea also performed what it called the test of a “high-thrust solid-fuel motor” for a new strategic weapon, a development that experts say could allow it to possess a more mobile, harder-to-detect arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland.

    It wasn’t immediately known if Sunday’s launches occurred from the Sohae facility.

    Sunday’s launch is the North’s first public weapons test since the country last month launched its developmental, longest-range liquid-fueled Hwasong-17 ICBM capable of reaching the entire U.S. homeland. In recent months, North Korea has test-launched a barrage of missiles at a record pace, despite pandemic-related economic hardships and U.S.-led pressures to curb its nuclear program.

    North Korea has defended its weapons testing as self-defense measures to cope with the expanded U.S.-South Korea military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal. But some experts say North Korea likely used its rivals’ military training as an excuse to enlarge its weapons arsenal and increase its leverage in future negotiations with the U.S. Last month, President Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea vowed a unified, coordinated response to North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs. 

    The weapon North Korea said it could build with the recently tested motor likely refers to a solid-fueled ICBM, which is among a list of high-tech weapons systems that leader Kim Jong Un vowed to procure during a major ruling Workers’ Party conference early last year. Other weapons systems Kim promised to manufacture include a multi-warhead missile, underwater-launched nuclear missiles and spy satellites.

    The fuel in solid-propellant rockets is already loaded inside, which helps to shorten launch preparation times, increase the weapon’s mobility and make it harder for outsiders to detect what’s happening before liftoff. North Korea already has a growing arsenal of short-range, solid-fueled ballistic missiles targeting key locations in South Korea, including U.S. military bases there.

    There have also been concerns that North Korea might conduct its first nuclear test in five years. In late October, U.S. and South Korean officials told CBS News that Pyongyang is preparing to test an atomic weapon soon, in what would be its first nuclear test since 2017.  

    The exact status of North Korea’s nuclear attack capability remains in secrecy, as all its intercontinental ballistic missile tests in recent years have been carried out at a steep angle to avoid neighboring countries.

    Some experts speculate North Korea already has functioning nuclear-tipped missiles that can hit the entire U.S., given the number of years it has spent on its nuclear program. But others say country is still years away from acquiring such weapons, saying it has yet to publicly prove it has a technology to protect warheads from the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry.

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  • North Korea launches ICBM that could reach entire U.S. mainland, Japan says

    North Korea launches ICBM that could reach entire U.S. mainland, Japan says

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    North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed near Japanese waters Friday in its second major weapons test this month, South Korea and Japan said. The missile had the potential to reach all of the U.S. mainland, Japan’s defense minister said.

    The United States quickly condemned the launch and vowed to take “all necessary measures” to guarantee the safety of its own mainland and of allies South Korea and Japan.

    At the regional APEC summit in Bangkok, Thailand, Vice President Kamala Harris called Friday’s launch a “brazen violation of multiple U.N. Security resolutions” that “destabilizes security in the region, and unnecessarily raises tensions. We strongly condemn these actions and we again call for North Korea to stop further unlawful, destabilizing acts. On behalf of the United States, I reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our Indo-Pacific alliances.

    “Together, the countries represented here will continue to urge North Korea to commit to serious and sustained diplomacy,” she continued.

    Later, the U.S, South Korea, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, and Australia all condemned the launch in the strongest terms at an emergency meeting on the APEC sidelines, Tokyo said, the Reuters news agency reported.

    Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergei Ryabkov, on the other hand, was quoted by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency as saying that that while Moscow prefers a diplomatic approach toward the Korean peninsula, “it’s been particularly evident recently that the United States and its allies in the region prefer a different path. It’s as if Pyongyang’s patience is being tested.” Agence France-Presse reported on Moscow’s reaction.

    In response to the ICBM test, The U.S. and South Korea held joint air force drills Friday with F-35A fighters, South Korea’s defense ministry said, according to Reuters.

    Pyongyang’s ongoing torrid run of weapons tests seeks to advance its nuclear arsenal and win greater concessions in eventual diplomacy, and the launches come as China and Russia have opposed U.S. moves to toughen sanctions aimed at curbing the North’s nuclear program.

    APEC summit in Bangkok
    Vice President Kamala Harris holds a meeting about North Korea’s missile launch on Nov. 18, 2022 with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo of South Korea, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok, Thailand.

    Haiyun Jiang / Pool via Reuters


    South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the ICBM launch from North Korea’s capital region around 10:15 a.m. and the weapon flew toward the North’s eastern coast across the country. Japan said the ICBM appeared to have flown on a high trajectory and landed west of Hokkaido.

    According to South Korean and Japanese estimates, the North Korean missile flew about 3,600-3,790 miles at a maximum altitude of 620 miles.

    Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters the altitude suggests the missile was launched on a high angle. He said depending on the weight of a warhead placed on the missile, the weapon has a range exceeding 9,320 miles, “in which case it could cover the entire mainland United States.”

    U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the launch “needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing” regional security while showing the North’s prioritizing of unlawful weapons programs over the well-being of its people. She said President Biden was briefed over the launch.

    “Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilizing actions and instead choose diplomatic engagement,” Watson said.

    South Korea Koreas Tensions
    A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korean missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 18, 2022. South Korea said the missile North Korea launched Friday is likely an intercontinental ballistic missile.

    Ahn Young-joon / AP


    Hamada, the Japanese defense minister, called the launch “a reckless act that threatens Japan as well as the region and the international community.”

    South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch “a grave provocation and serious threat” that undermines international and regional peace and security. It said South Korea maintains readiness to make “an overwhelming response to any North Korean provocation” amid close coordination with the United States.

    After being briefed on the launch, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered officials to boost security cooperation with the United States and Japan and to implement unspecified deterrence steps that were previously agreed upon with the United States. Yoon also ordered officials to push for strong international condemnations and sanctions on North Korea, according to his office.

    North Korea also launched an ICBM on Nov. 3, but experts said that weapon failed to fly its intended route and fell into the ocean after a stage separation. That test was believed to have involved a developmental ICBM called Hwasong-17.

    North Korea has two other types of ICBMs – Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 – and their test-launches in 2017 proved they could potentially reach parts of the U.S. homeland.

    The Hwasong-17 has a longer potential range than the others, and its huge size suggests it’s designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to defeat missile defense systems. Some experts say the Nov. 3 test showed some technological progress in the development of the Hwasong-17, given that in its earlier test in March, the missile exploded soon after liftoff.

    It wasn’t immediately known if North Korea launched a Hwasong-17 missile again on Friday or something else.

    In recent months, North Korea has performed dozens of shorter-range missile tests that it called simulations of nuclear attacks on South Korean and U.S. targets. But it had halted weapons launches for about a week before it fired a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday.

    Before Thursday’s launch, the North’s foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, threatened to launch “fiercer” military responses to the U.S. bolstering its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan.

    Choe was referring to Mr. Biden’s recent trilateral summit with Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Cambodia. In their joint statement, the three leaders strongly condemned North Korea’s recent missile tests and agreed to work together to strengthen deterrence. Mr. Biden reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to defend South Korea and Japan with a full range of capabilities, including its nuclear arms.

    Choe didn’t say what steps North Korea could take but said that “the U.S. will be well aware that it is gambling, for which it will certainly regret.”

    Pyongyang sees the U.S. military presence in the region as proof of its hostility toward North Korea. It has said its recent series of weapons launches were its response to what it called provocative military drills between the United States and South Korea.

    North Korea has been under multiple rounds of United Nations sanctions over its previous nuclear and missile tests. But no fresh sanctions have been applied this year though it has conducted dozens of ballistic missile launches, which are banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions.

    That’s possibly because China and Russia, two of the U.N. council’s veto-wielding members, oppose new U.N. sanctions. Washington is locked in a strategic competition with Beijing and in a confrontation with Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

    There have been concerns that North Korea might conduct its first nuclear test in five years as its next major step toward bolstering its military capability against the United States and its allies.  

    In late October, U.S. and South Korean officials confirmed to CBS News that Pyongyang is preparing to test an atomic weapon soon, in what would be its first nuclear test since 2017.

    The North has argued a U.S. military presence in the region as proof of its hostility toward the country. It has said its recent series of weapons launches were response to what it called provocative military drills between the United States and South Korea.

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  • North Korea test launches suspected ICBM, Seoul says

    North Korea test launches suspected ICBM, Seoul says

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    North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile that landed near Japanese territorial waters Friday, its neighbors said, the second such major weapons test this month that shows its determination to perfect weapons systems targeting the U.S. mainland.

    South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the missile was launched at 10:15 a.m. local time Friday from Pyongyang. It traveled a distance of about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers), at an altitude of 3,790 miles (6,100 kilometers), and reached a speed of Mach 22, before landing in the East Sea.

    The Japanese Defense Ministry also initially identified the weapon as an ICBM-class ballistic missile. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, visiting Bangkok to attend a regional summit, told reporters it was believed to have landed at sea inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone west of Hokkaido, Japan’s main northern island.  

    A “seek cover order” for the Misawa Air Base in northern Japan was issued as a “precautionary measure” by the commander of the 35th Fighter Wing, the U.S. base said in a statement posted to Facebook. The order was lifted at 10:55 a.m. local time Friday.

    “At this time, there are no additional indications or warnings of an immediate threat to Misawa Air Base,” the statement read.

    A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile
    A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korea missile launch during a news program being watched at the Yongsan Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 17, 2022. North Korea fired one short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea that day. 

    Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images


    If confirmed, it would be North Korea’s first ICBM launch in about two weeks. Outside experts said that an ICBM launched by North Korea on Nov. 3 failed to fly its intended flight.

    The Nov. 3 test was believed to have involved a new type of developmental ICBM. North Korea has two other types of ICBM — Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 and their test-launches in 2017 proved they could potentially reach parts of the U.S. homeland.

    The Hwasong-17 has a longer potential range than the others and its huge size suggests it’s designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to defeat missile defense systems. Some experts say the Nov. 3 test showed some technological progress in the development of the Hwasong-17, given that in its earlier test in March, the missile exploded soon after liftoff.

    “North Korea has been repeatedly firing missiles this year at an unprecedented frequency and is significantly escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamad told reporters.

    South Korea’s presidential office said it convened an emergency security meeting to discuss the North Korean launch.

    The launch is the latest in a slew of missile tests by North Korea in recent weeks. But the country had halted weapons launches for about a week before it fired a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday.

    Before Thursday’s launch, the North’s foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, threatened to launch “fiercer” military responses to the U.S. bolstering its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan.

    Choe was referring to U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent trilateral summit with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Cambodia. In their joint statement, the three leaders strongly condemned North Korea’s recent missile tests and agreed to work together to strengthen deterrence. Biden reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to defend South Korea and Japan with a full range of capabilities, including its nuclear arms.

    Choe didn’t say what steps North Korea could take but said that “the U.S. will be well aware that it is gambling, for which it will certainly regret.”

    In late October, U.S. and South Korean officials confirmed to CBS News that North Korea is preparing to test an atomic weapon soon, in what would be its first nuclear test since 2017.    

    The North has argued a U.S. military presence in the region as proof of its hostility toward the country. It has said its recent series of weapons launches were response to what it called provocative military drills between the United States and South Korea.

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  • North Korea launches another ballistic missile, Seoul says

    North Korea launches another ballistic missile, Seoul says

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    North Korea launched yet another ballistic missile toward its eastern waters on Thursday, South Korea’s military said, hours after the North threatened to launch “fiercer” military responses to the U.S. bolstering its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan.

    The launch of a short-range ballistic missile occurred at 10:48 a.m. local time Thursday into the East Sea, originating from the North Korean city of Wonsan, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported. The missile flew a distance of about 240 kilometers, at an altitude of 47 kilometers, and at a speed of Mach 4, South Korea’s military estimated.

    U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that it was “aware” of the launch and was “consulting closely with our allies and partners.” The agency added that it had determined the launch did “not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territories, or to our allies.”

    Earlier Thursday, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hue warned that a recent U.S.-South Korea-Japan summit accord on the North would leave tensions on the Korean Peninsula “more unpredictable.”

    Choe’s statement was North Korea’s first official response to President Biden’s trilateral summit with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Cambodia on Sunday. In their joint statement, the three leaders strongly condemned North Korea’s recent missile tests and agreed to work together to strengthen deterrence, while Biden reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to defend South Korea and Japan with a full range of capabilities, including its nuclear arms.

    North Korea missile test
    People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 3, 2022. 

    JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images


    Choe said the U.S.-South Korea-Japan summit will bring the situation on the Korean Peninsula to “a more unpredictable phase.”

    “The keener the U.S. is on the ‘bolstered offer of extended deterrence’ to its allies and the more they intensify provocative and bluffing military activities on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, the fiercer (North Korea’s) military counteraction will be, in direct proportion to it,” Choe said. “It will pose a more serious, realistic and inevitable threat to the U.S. and its vassal forces.”

    Choe didn’t say what steps North Korea could take but said that “The U.S. will be well aware that it is gambling for which it will certainly regret.”

    North Korea has steadfastly maintained its recent weapons testing activities are legitimate military counteractions to what it calls military drills between U.S. and South Korean forces, which it views as a practice to launch attacks on the North.

    In late October, U.S. and South Korean officials confirmed to CBS News that North Korea is preparing to test an atomic weapon soon, in what would be its first nuclear test since 2017.

    And earlier this month, North Korea fired dozens of missiles and flew warplanes toward the sea — triggering evacuation alerts in some South Korean and Japanese areas — in protest of massive U.S.-South Korean air force drills that the North views as an invasion rehearsal. 

    On Nov. 7, North Korea released a statement saying that its flurry of missile tests were practice to “mercilessly” strike key South Korean and U.S. targets, such as air bases and operation command systems. 

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  • North Korea launches 2 more ballistic missiles; one lands in Sea of Japan

    North Korea launches 2 more ballistic missiles; one lands in Sea of Japan

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    North Korea launched two more ballistic missiles Thursday morning, one of which landed in the Sea of Japan, U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News. The second missile landed in North Korea, the officials said.

    It’s unclear if Thursday’s launches were in direct response to the announcement Wednesday that the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan would return to waters east of South Korea. The carrier was part of drills last week with South Korea and Japan.

    South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the two missiles were launched from Pyongyang about 22 minutes apart in the direction of the Sea of Japan.  

    “North Korea’s successive launch of ballistic missiles is a serious provocation that harms the peace and stability of not only the Korean Peninsula but also the international community, and it is a clear violation of the ‘UN Security Council resolution,’” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. 

    Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also confirmed the North Korean missile launches, saying the weapons firings are “absolutely intolerable.”

    The launches were the North’s sixth round of weapons firings in less than two weeks, which has prompted condemnation from the U.S. and other countries. It also came just two days after North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan for the first time in five years. Foreign experts said the missile fired Tuesday involved a weapon capable of reaching the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and beyond. 

    The country has fired nearly 40 ballistic missiles over about 20 different launch events this year, exploiting Russia’s war on Ukraine and the resulting deep divide in the U.N. Security Council to accelerate its arms development without risking further sanctions.

    Debate over how to handle Tuesday’s missile launch over Japanese territory split an already deeply fractured U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, with Russia and China insisting that U.S.-led military exercises in the region had provoked North Korea into acting.

    Wednesday’s session ended with no agreement on next steps, despite warnings from the U.S. and its allies that the council’s inability to reach consensus on North Korea’s record number of missile launches this year was emboldening North Korea and undermining the authority of the United Nations’ most powerful body.

    JAPAN-NKOREA-SKOREA-MISSILE
    This picture shows a Japan Air Self-Defense Force ground-based missile interceptor Patriot system deployed next to the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo on Oct. 5, 2022. 

    KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images


    The North’s flurry of weapons tests in recent days came after the U.S. staged military drills with South Korea and Japan in the waters off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast.

    The drills on Tuesday were conducted to show a joint ability to deter a North Korean attack on the South. The allies conducted training bombing runs by F-15 strike jets using precision munitions and launched two missiles each that are part of the Army Tactical Missile System.

    However, one of South Korea’s ballistic missiles malfunctioned and fell on land during the drill, with sound of the blast and subsequent fire triggering panic among residents in the coastal city of Gangneung.

    North Korea views such drills as an invasion rehearsal. The country launched its own missile hours before the drills in its most provocative demonstration since 2017. The nuclear-capable ballistic missile that was launched has a range capable of striking Guam, which is home to one of the largest military facilities maintained by the U.S. in Asia. North Korea in 2017 also tested missiles capable of hitting the continental United States.

    After Tuesday’s launch, the United States, Britain, France, Albania, Norway and Ireland called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. 

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  • North Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan for first time in 5 years, drawing quick response from U.S., South Korea

    North Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan for first time in 5 years, drawing quick response from U.S., South Korea

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    Seoul, South Korea — North Korea on Tuesday fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, forcing Japan to issue evacuation notices and suspend trains during the flight of the nuclear-capable weapon that could reach the U.S. territory of Guam, and possibly beyond. The launch was the most provocative weapons demonstration by North Korea this year.

    CBS News senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reported from Tokyo that residents of coastal communities in northern Japan were woken up Tuesday by sirens and warnings to prepare to evacuate their homes.

    North Korea fires missile over Japan
    A man watches a TV news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile over Japan, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 4, 2022.

    KIM HONG-JI / REUTERS


    North Korea fired the missile from near its border with China. It took took 22 minutes to fly 2,800 miles on a path directly over northern Japan before crashing into the sea. Analysts believe the missile was the Hwasong-12, which the Kim regime rolled out in a military parade in January.

    The test of the apparent Hwasong-12 appeared to be North Korea’s longest-range missile launch to date, and would put major U.S. military bases in the region easily within range.

    gettyimages-683246424.jpg
    This picture taken on May 14, 2017 and released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 15 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a ground-to-ground medium long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 at an undisclosed location.

    STR/AFP/Getty


    The U.S. and South Korea conducted a “combined attack squadron flight and precision bombing drill in response to North Korea’s intermediate-range ballistic missile provocation today,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Defense said in a statement later Tuesday.

    The drill saw four South Korean F-15s and four U.S. F-16 fighter jets fire two shots at a set target, which the South Korean military said had demonstrated the will by both countries “to respond resolutely to any provocation from North Korea, the ability to precisely strike the origin of the provocation with the overwhelming power of the alliance, and a readiness posture for retaliation.”

    south-korea-f-15.jpg
    A South Korean F-15K takes off to participate in a combined attack squadron flight and precision bombing training drill with U.S. forces on October 4, 2022, in response to a North Korean test firing of a suspected Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile earlier in the day.

    Hanout/South Korean Ministry of Defense


    As Palmer reported, Tuesday’s was the latest and most threatening test in what has already been a bumper year of 23 separate missile launches by North Korea. The last time the North fired a rocket over Japan, however, was 2017, when North-South relations hit a low point just before then-President Trump’s attempts to negotiate directly with Kim.

    There was no immediate comment from the Kim regime about Tuesday’s test, but Palmer said the North Korean dictator’s message was clear: He’s angered and threatened by the growing military alliance in the Pacific between the U.S. and its key partners South Korea and Japan.

    Palmer noted that there have been no recent signs that negotiations — even indirect talks — are under consideration to defuse the tension.

    Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the “reckless act” and quickly convened his country’s National Security Council. The United States also strongly condemned North Korea’s “dangerous and reckless decision” to launch what it described as a “long-range ballistic missile” over Japan.

    U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken held separate calls with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts and, the State Department said, all three “strongly condemned the launch and its blatant disregard of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and its deeply destabilizing implications for the region.”  


    U.S. aircraft carrier arrives in South Korea for first time since 2018

    05:42

    “The United States will continue its efforts to limit (North Korea’s) ability to advance its prohibited ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs, including with allies and U.N. partners,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

    Japanese authorities alerted residents in northeastern regions to evacuate to shelters, in the first “J-alert” since 2017 when North Korea fired an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile twice over Japan in a span of weeks during its previous torrid run of weapons tests.

    Trains were suspended in the Hokkaido and Aomori regions until the government issued a subsequent notice that the North Korean missile appeared to have landed in the Pacific. In Sapporo city, the prefectural capital of Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, subways were also temporarily suspended, with stations packed with morning commuters.

    According to South Korean and Japanese estimates, the missile traveled about 2,800-2,860 miles at a maximum altitude of 600-620 miles. Hamada said it landed in the Pacific, about 1,990 miles off the northern Japanese coast and that there were no reports of damage to Japanese aircraft or ships.

    South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the missile flew farther than any other weapon fired by North Korea. Before Tuesday’s launch, the 2,300 mile-long flight of Hwasong-12 in 2017 was North Korea’s longest. It has previously tested intercontinental ballistic missiles at steep angles so they flew shorter distances.

    The missile’s flight distance shows it has enough range to hit the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, home to U.S. military bases that sent advanced warplanes to the Korean Peninsula in shows of force in past tensions with North Korea. In 2017, North Korea threatened to make “an enveloping fire” near Guam with Hwasong-12 missiles amid rising animosities with the then-Trump administration.

    North Korea last test-fired a Hwasong-12 missile in January. At the time, the North said the launch was meant to verify the overall accuracy of the weapon, which it said was launched on a lofted angle to prevent it from flying over other countries.

    CBS News’ Jen Kwon in Seoul contributed to this report.

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