North Korea fired a missile while Blinken was meeting with South Korean officials Political news

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with South Korean Acting President Choi Sang-mok in Seoul.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea while the top US diplomat was holding meetings in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

South Korea’s military said the missile was launched eastward at around noon (03:00 GMT), shortly after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with South Korean Acting President Choi Sang-mok.

“Our soldiers detected a projectile, believed to be a medium-range ballistic missile,” the military said.

After the missile flew about 1,100 km (680 miles) before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, the military said Seoul was “intensifying surveillance and vigilance” for any further launches.

According to Japan, the missile fell into the water. The South’s military added that Seoul was “coordinating closely with the United States and Japan” regarding the launch.

Japan’s Defense Ministry said the missile fell outside its exclusive economic zone and there were no reports of damage to ships or aircraft.

Both Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul condemned the missile launch at a joint press conference, which Washington’s top diplomat called “another violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.”

Monday’s launch was the first since November 5, when Pyongyang fired at least seven short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast.

Al Jazeera’s Patrick Fok, reporting from Seoul, said the timing of the missile launch was “significant” for several reasons.

“This comes just a few weeks before Donald Trump takes office in the United States,” he said. “This (missile launch) is also important because North Korea has been relatively quiet since this political crisis (December’s failed coup attempt) happened here.”

South Korean lawmakers last month voted for impeachment After his declaration of martial law on December 3 shocked the country, President Yoon Suk Yeol and removed him from office. Yoon’s impeachment trial is pending before the Constitutional Court, and South Korean investigators have sought an arrest warrant for the former leader.

‘Iron Clad Commitment’

The US Secretary of State reiterated Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to defend South Korea and spoke with Acting President Choi about “how both sides will work together to further strengthen bilateral cooperation and trilateral cooperation with Japan.”

Until martial law was briefly imposed on December 3, Yoon was a favorite of President Joe Biden’s administration for his pro-US policies on the global stage.

Yoon delighted the United States by turning the page on decades of friction with Japan, a US ally that also hosts thousands of US soldiers.

Yoon joined Biden and then-Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a landmark trilateral summit that included a pledge to step up intelligence cooperation on North Korea at the 2023 Camp David retreat of the presidents.

Choi’s office said in a statement that South Korea remains committed to the “principles and agreements of the Camp David summit.”

The acting president said that “South Korea will continue its diplomatic and security policy based on the strong Korea-US alliance and trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the US and Japan.”

Cooperation between North Korea and Russia

Blinken said Monday that the United States believes Russia is expanding its space cooperation with North Korea exchange with his own troop Contribution to the fight against Ukraine.

“The DPRK (North Korea) already receives military equipment and training from Russia. Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technologies with Pyongyang,” said Blinken.

Blinken said that more than 1,000 North Korean soldiers were killed or wounded in the war against Ukraine.

In addition, Blinken said that the United States believes that Russia “may be close” to formally accepting North Korea’s status as a nuclear power.