Associated Press

Seoul: N. Korea fires projectile in 4th launch this month

Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP
In this photo taken during Dec. 27 – Dec. 31, 2021 and provided on Jan. 1, 2022 by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang

The Associated Press

9:39 JST, January 17, 2022

SEOUL (AP) — North Korea fired at least one projectile into the sea on Monday, South Korea’s military said, in a fourth weapons launch this month as it demonstrates its military might amid pandemic border closures and paused diplomacy with the United States.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t immediately say whether the weapon was ballistic or how far it flew.

The launch came after the North conducted a pair of flight tests of a purported hypersonic missile on Jan. 5 and Jan. 11 and also test-fired ballistic missiles from a train Friday in an apparent reprisal over fresh sanctions imposed by the Biden administration last week for its continuing test launches.

North Korea has been ramping up tests in recent months of new missiles designed to overwhelm missile defenses in the region.

Some experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is going back to a tried-and-true technique of pressuring the U.S. and regional neighbors with missile launches and outrageous threats before offering negotiations meant to extract concessions.