North Korea fires artillery at sea as South Korea, US pledge cooperation

North Korea fired about 80 artillery rounds into a maritime border zone overnight, South Korea said on Friday, as defense ministers in Seoul and Washington pledged to cooperate over North Korea’s missile tests. North.

North Korea fired several missiles into the sea on Thursday, including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), prompting the United States and South Korea to extend air exercises that angered Pyongyang.

Beginning just before midnight on Thursday, the South Korean military said it had detected more than 80 artillery rounds fired at sea by North Korea, in what it said was a violation of a 2018 inter-Korean agreement. The South issued a communication warning the North about the shooting, the South Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Meeting in Washington, the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin and the South Korean Defense Minister, Lee Jong-sup pledged to seek further steps to demonstrate the alliance’s “determination and capabilities” after repeated North Korean provocations, according to a joint statement between the two countries.

Tensions have been rising as North Korea has carried out a record number of missile launches this year, including at least 23 on Wednesday alone and the launch of an ICBM on Thursday.

A senior US administration official said that while the United States has said since May that North Korea was preparing to resume nuclear tests for the first time since 2017, it was unclear when it could carry out such a test.

The United States believes China and Russia have the leverage to persuade North Korea not to resume nuclear bomb tests, the official told Reuters.

Diplomats said Washington had asked the UN Security Council to meet publicly on North Korea on Friday, a request supported by other council members including Britain, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway.

In recent years, the 15-member council has been divided over how to deal with North Korea, and in May, China and Russia vetoed a US-led effort to impose more UN sanctions in response to North Korean missile launches. Meanwhile, Pyongyang condemned the Allied military exercises.

On Thursday, Pak Jong Chon, secretary of the Central Committee of the North Korean Workers’ Party, said Washington and Seoul had made a very dangerous decision in extending the exercises and were “pushing” the situation out of control. “The United States and South Korea will find that they have made a terrible mistake that cannot be reversed,” Pak said.