South Korea says North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Monday fired a ballistic missile that flew 1,100 kilometers (685 miles) before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korea's military said, extending its weapons testing weeks before Donald Trump returns as U.S. president.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the midrange missile was fired from an area near the North Korean capital Pyongyang and that the launch preparations were detected in advance by the U.S. and South Korean militaries. It denounced the launch as a provocation that poses a serious threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

The joint chiefs said the military was strengthening its surveillance and defense posture in preparation for possible additional launches.

Japan's Defense Ministry said the missile landed outside its exclusive economic zone and that there were no reports of damage to vessels or aircraft.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed concern that the North's accelerated pace in missile tests is advancing its capabilities. The North last year tested various nuclear-capable systems that threaten its neighbors and the United States, including a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile that achieved both the highest altitude and longest flight time of any missile the country has launched.

Blinken holds talks in Seoul as political turmoil shakes South Korea

The launch came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul for talks with South Korean allies over the North Korean nuclear threat and other issues.

Blinken's visit comes amid political turmoil in South Korea following President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law decree and subsequent impeachment by parliament last month, which experts say puts the country at a disadvantage in getting a steady footing with Trump ahead of his return to the White House.

In a news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, Blinken condemned North Korea's latest launch, which violates U.N. Security Council resolutions against the North. He also reiterated concerns about the growing alignment between North Korea and Russia in Moscow's war on Ukraine.

According to U.S., Ukrainian and South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops and conventional weapons systems to support Moscow's war campaign. There are concerns that Russia could transfer to North Korea advanced weapons technology in return, which could potentially enhance the threat posed by leader Kim Jong Un's nuclear-armed military.

Blinken described the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea as a ''two-way street,'' saying Russia has been providing military equipment and training to the North and ''intends to share space and satellite technology.''

Blinken and Cho both dismissed concerns about damage to the U.S.-South Korea alliance in the aftermath of the political turmoil in Seoul. Experts had warned that Yoon's martial law decree — which lasted only hours but has rattled politics, high-level diplomacy and financial markets for weeks — exposed the fragility of South Korea's democratic system in a divided society.

''We had serious concerns about some of the actions that President Yoon took and we communicated those directly to the government,'' Blinken said. ''At the same time we have tremendous confidence in the resilience of South Korea's democracy, in the strength of its institutions and in the efforts that it's making to work through those institutions, pursuant to the constitution and the rule of law to resolve differences and to do so peacefully.''

Kim's warning ahead of Trump's return

In a year-end political conference, Kim, the North Korean leader, vowed to implement the ''toughest'' anti-U.S. policy and criticized the Biden administration's efforts to strengthen security cooperation with Seoul and Tokyo, which he described as a ''nuclear military bloc for aggression.''

North Korean state media did not specify Kim's policy plans or mention any specific comments about Trump. During his first term, Trump met Kim three times for talks on the North's nuclear program.

Even if Trump returns to the White House, a quick resumption of diplomacy with North Korea could be unlikely. Kim's strengthened position — built on his expanded nuclear arsenal, deepening alliance with Russia and the weakening enforcement of U.S. international sanctions — presents new challenges to resolving the nuclear standoff, experts say.

It's unclear whether Trump would be as active as Biden in strengthening U.S. alliances in Asia.

During his first term, Trump complained about the cost of keeping 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea to deter North Korean threats and constantly pushed for significant increases in Seoul's defense contributions. There are also concerns in Seoul that Trump's ''America first'' approach would damage South Korean interests in trade through increased tariffs and other measures.

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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.