South Korea says North Korea has fired a ballistic missile toward the sea

North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea on Thursday, South Korea’s military said, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to put his nuclear force fully ready for battle with its rivals.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a brief statement that the launch took place off North Korea’s eastern coast on Thursday morning but gave no further details like how far the weapon travelled.

Japan’s Prime Minister’s Office also alerted on its X account that North Korea had launched a suspected ballistic missile, but did not provide further details.

The launch is North Korea’s first public weapons firing in more than two months. On July 1, North Korea claimed to have tested a new tactical weapon capable of delivering a “super-large” 4.5 ton-class warhead.

In a speech Monday, Kim said he would redouble efforts to make his nuclear force fully ready for combat with the United States and its allies. Kim made such a pledge saying North Korea faces “a grave threat” because of what he called “the reckless expansion” of a U.S.-led regional military bloc that is now developing into a nuclear-based one.

Kim has made similar vows numerous times, but his latest threat comes as outside experts believe Kim will perform a nuclear test explosion or long-range missile test-launches ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.

Last week, North Korea also resumed launches of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea.

Since 2022, North Korea has significantly accelerated its weapons testing activities in a bid to perfect its capabilities to launch strikes on the U.S. and South Korea. The U.S. and South Korea have responded by expanding military drills that North Korea calls invasion rehearsals.

Last month, Kim had still held off from missile tests or other provocative military demonstrations as the United States and South Korea conducted large-scale summertime military exercises. North Korea issued statements berating the allies for raising tensions.