Sonu Sood

The meeting took place after the North conducted four missile tests this month, including two of what it claims to be a hypersonic missile, prompting the US to slap new sanctions on the regime, reports Yonhap News Agency.

John Kirby, however, said the US is still assessing the nature North Korea's recent missile launches, apparently to learn their exact capabilities, Yonhap news agency reported. "We will continue to take this threat and this improving program of Pyongyang's very, very seriously," he told a press briefing when asked about North's recent missile launches. North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday (Seoul time), marking its fourth missile launch since the start of the new year.

Suh made the call when he met with troops at the Army's 2nd Operations Command in Daegu, 302 km south of Seoul, and a radar operation unit of the command's 32nd Infantry Division in a central region, Yonhap News Agency quoted the Defence Ministry as saying. His trip followed four rounds of weapons tests by North Korea, including Monday's launch of what it calls tactical guided missiles, and a North Korean defector's flight to the North across the inter-Korean border earlier this month.

North Korea reportedly fired two short-range projectiles into eastern waters on Monday, the fourth launch in less than two weeks, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea military said it detected the projectiles fired from the Sunan airport at 8.50 a.m. and 8.54 a.m., respectively, and that they flew about 380 km at an altitude of 42 km, reports Yonhap News Agency. The latest firing came just three days after the North launched two suspected short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea that it later claimed to be guided missiles fired by a railway-borne regiment during a firing drill.

In a phone call with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, Blinken reaffirmed the bilateral alliance is "the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond", Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday citing the Department as saying The phone conversation came shortly after Pyongyang said it fired two tactical guided missiles into the East Sea the previous day, the third missile test this month.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the short-range projectiles were launched from Uiju in North Pyongan Province, a northwestern region bordering China, and that they flew around 430 km at an altitude of 36 km, reports Yonhap News Agency. It detected one of the missiles at 2.41 p.m and the other at 2.52 p.m. The missiles flew at top speed of around Mach 6, six times the speed of sound, according to officials.

In a statement carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a spokesperson for the North's Foreign Ministry said the recent launch of what it claims to be a hypersonic missile was an "exercise of right to self-defence".

"The superior maneuverability of the hypersonic glide vehicle was more strikingly verified through the final test-fire," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. "The test-fire was aimed at the final verification of overall technical specifications of the developed hypersonic weapon system," reported Yonhap News Agency.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from an inland area at 7:27 a.m. It did not elaborate further, Yonhap news agency reported. "For additional information, the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the US are in the process of conducting a detailed analysis," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.