North Korea fires two missiles toward East Sea, South Korea says
If confirmed, this will be the hermit kingdom's sixth missile test this year
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}North Korea fired two missiles into the sea off its eastern shore on Thursday, a South Korean military official claimed.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff made the announcement Thursday morning and offered no additional details on the suspected launch, according to the Associated Press.
This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a test launch of a hypersonic missile in North Korea Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If the latest test-fire is confirmed, it will mark the sixth round of weapons launches this month, matching last year's total.
Earlier this week, South Korean military officials announced North Korea had test-fired two suspected cruise missiles. In addition, the hermit kingdom test-fired short-range ballistic missiles and tested a hypersonic missile this month.
Since 2017, when North Korea conducted 16 missile tests, the number of tests by the country had dwindled on a yearly basis. In 2020, there were five missile tests. The year before that, in 2019, there were 11.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is photographed on September 3, 2017 while attending a meeting with a committee of the Workers' Party of Korea about the test of a hydrogen bomb, at an unknown location. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
North Korea has upped its testing activity recently amid long-stalled nuclear talks with the Biden administration, which recently hit five North Korean officials with sanctions in relation to missile tests in the region.
The renewed pressure comes as the pandemic further shakes the North’s economy, which was already battered by crippling U.S.-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program and decades of mismanagement by its own government.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this photo provided by the North Korean government, a huge North Korean flag is displayed during a celebration of the nation’s 73rd anniversary at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, early Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Last week, North Korea issued a veiled threat to resume the testing of nuclear explosives and long-range missiles targeting the American homeland, which leader Kim Jong Un suspended in 2018 while initiating diplomacy with the United States.
The Biden administration has offered open-ended talks but shown no willingness to ease sanctions unless Kim takes steps to abandon his prized nuclear weapons and missiles.
Fox News' Peter Aitken and the Associated Press contributed to this article.