North Korea launches ballistic missile as Blinken arrives in Seoul
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on Monday, South Korea’s military said, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul to meet with his counterpart amid a deepening political crisis in the country.
The missile was fired from the Pyongyang area around noon and traveled approximately 685 miles before splashing down in the sea between Korea and Japan, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters.
“South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities were monitoring North Korea’s missile launch preparations in advance and immediately detected and tracked it upon launch,” the message said.
The launch was North Korea’s first since it fired a salvo of short-range missiles on Nov. 5, just hours ahead of the United States presidential election.
The latest provocation comes amid political turmoil in South Korea following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law bid on Dec. 3.
South Korean officials and analysts have warned the North could look to take advantage of the political instability and ratchet up its military activity.
“Our military is closely monitoring North Korea’s various movements under a strong U.S.-South Korea joint defense posture to prevent North Korea from miscalculating in the current security situation, and is maintaining the ability and posture to overwhelmingly respond to any provocation,” the JCS message said.
Both Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul condemned the launch at a joint news conference on Monday afternoon.
Washington’s top diplomat, on likely his last foreign trip before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated this month, also warned about the growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
“The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training,” Blinken said, using the official acronym for North Korea. “Now, we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang.”
“Putin may be close to reversing a decades-long policy by accepting DPRK’s nuclear weapons program,” he added.
Moscow and Pyongyang have grown closer since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty in June, which includes a mutual defense clause that calls for mutual military assistance in the event either country is attacked.
North Korea has sent munitions and missiles to Russia, as well as up to 12,000 troops to aid Moscow’s war effort in the southwestern Kursk region.
Blinken’s visit comes during South Korea’s biggest political crisis in decades. Yoon, who was impeached on Dec. 14, has remained barricaded inside his compound as anti-corruption officials have been unable to execute an arrest warrant for insurrection and abuse of power.
The American diplomat expressed confidence in South Korea’s democracy, calling it “remarkably strong.”
“We reaffirm our unwavering support for the Korean people,” Blinken said. “We trust that Korea, as a leading global democracy, will proceed in full accordance with its Constitution and rule of law.”
Blinken is on a three-nation tour this week, with planned stops in Japan and France.
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This story was originally published January 6, 2025 at 4:32 AM