North Korea has fired "several cruise missiles" into the Yellow Sea between China and the Korean peninsula, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Saturday, July 22. The launches, which the military said took place around 4 a.m., come as relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points ever. "South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analyzing the launches while monitoring signs of additional activities," the JCS said,
Le Monde reports.
The recent weapons tests are the latest in a series by Pyongyang and come as Seoul and Washington ramp up defense cooperation in the face of soaring tensions with the North. Diplomacy between Pyongyang and Seoul has stalled and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for ramping up weapons development, including tactical nukes.
In response, Seoul and Washington have staged joint military exercises with advanced stealth jets and US strategic assets, while an American nuclear-armed submarine this week made a South Korean port call for the first time in decades.
