North Korea conducts ballistic missile test days before US and South Korea begin drills

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea on Thursday, its neighbors said, resuming weapons tests days before its rivals the U.S. and South Korea begin annual military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.

The launch from North Korea's eastern coastal Wonsan area was detected around 5 p.m., South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that South Korea's military has bolstered its surveillance posture and is closely coordinating with the U.S. and Japan.

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters the missile landed in the waters off North Korea's east coast and that there were no reports that the weapon reached Japanese territory.

Koizumi said North Korea's repeated missile launches pose a threat to Japan and the region and that Tokyo lodged a protest to Pyongyang through their embassies in Beijing. South Korea's presidential national security council called the North Korean ballistic launch "a provocation" that violates U.N. Security Council resolutions and urged the North to stop it.

It was North Korea's first ballistic missile launch since late June, when it tested a tactical ballistic missile with a "special mission" warhead and other weapons. After watching the testing activities, leader Kim Jong Un said at the time that the military needed to bolster its "deadly and destructive offensive posture."

Thursday's launch came ahead of large-scale, annual exercises to be conducted by the U.S. and South Korean militaries later this month. U.S. and South Korean officials say the training is defensive in nature, but North Korea says the maneuvers are a practice invasion and often responds with missile tests.

South Korean and U.S. officials haven't yet released details about this year's joint exercise, but the drills are typically held in the latter half of August.

Kim has been focusing on enlarging his country's nuclear arsenal since his high-stakes diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. Experts say Kim wants international recognition as a nuclear state so that he can demand the lifting of international economic sanctions on North Korea.

U.N. Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from launches involving its huge stockpile of ballistic missiles. Tests of other weapons including cruise missiles and artillery systems are not banned, but experts say they still pose a security challenge to South Korea and the U.S.

In early July, Kim supervised tests of a nuclear-capable cruise missile aboard a destroyer. After years of prioritizing ballistic missile development, Kim has increasingly turned his focus to naval capabilities, including the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine.

In recent years, Kim has boosted his diplomatic credentials by expanding cooperation with Russia. North Korea has supplied conventional weapons and troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.

Kim also has pushed to deepen cooperation with China, the North's economic pipeline. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the North Korean capital Pyongyang in June for the first time in seven years.

In response to Trump's repeated outreach to restart diplomacy, Kim has suggested talks can resume if the U.S. drops its demand for North Korean denuclearization as a precondition.