North Korea

The report said that the missile was developed by the Academy of Defence Science, and the test was aimed at confirming the practicality of operation of the launcher, radar and comprehensive battle command vehicle as well as the comprehensive combat performance of the missile, Xinhua news agency reported.

Kim made the remarks after he held talks with his South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk, in Jakarta, to discuss humanitarian support, confidence-building measures and other steps to encourage Pyongyang's return to dialogue. The talks came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told a parliamentary session Wednesday that the US remains "utterly unchanged" in pursuing hostile policy toward his country.

Sung Kim, US special representative for North Korea, made the remark at a press event in Jakarta, a day after the North test-fired a hypersonic missile into the East Sea. The firing came after the regime's test-firings of two short-range missiles on September 15 and a new type of cruise missile days earlier, Yonhap news agency reported.

Noh's talks with Liu Xiaoming, Beijing's special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, came a day after the North test-fired a hypersonic missile into the East Sea, Yonhap news agency reported.

In his address to the UN General Assembly on Monday, Kim Song, the chief of North Korea's mission to the US, also said a good relationship may be formed between Pyongyang and Washington if and when the latter gives up its hostility toward his country, Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday.

The US official made the remark on Monday when asked if the US would be willing to consider easing sanctions on the North, reports Yonhap News Agency. "We are prepared to meet with the DPRK without preconditions, and of course, we certainly hope that the DPRK will respond positively to our outreach," said Jalina Porter, principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department.

The unidentified projectile was believed to have splashed into waters outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone, the Japanese government said, Xinhua news agency reported. According to South Korea's military, North Korea fired the unidentified projectile at around 6.40 a.m. local time into the sea off its east coast from an inland location.

"North Korea did not answer our opening call through the South-North joint liaison office at 9 a.m.," Yonhap News Agency quoted a Unification Ministry official said.

Siddharth Mohandas, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia, made the remark at the start of the biannual 20th Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) in Seoul to discuss regional security situations and pending alliance issues, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Ri Byong-dok, a researcher at the Institute of Japan, made the remarks in a piece posted on the website of the North's Foreign Ministry, after Suga made the video message on Friday, stressing the Pyongyang's recent ballistic missile launches threatened peace in Japan, the region and the world, reports Yonhap News Agency.