Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden on Thursday while raising global issues, backed Ukraine's "territorial integrity" and also "condemned North Korea's ballistic missile launches."
South Korea's Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup on Thursday said that North Korea fired four cruise missiles the previous day, though a detailed analysis is still underway to confirm the specifics.
South Korea will push to "normalise" inter-Korean relations this year by seeking to make both "direct and indirect" contact with North Korea, including supporting civilian exchanges, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday.
Publishing the report assessing North Korea and sanctions implementation covering the past six months from late January, the UN Panel of Experts on UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea also said the North may also be using students studying abroad to obtain advanced technology related to weapons.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Sunan area in Pyongyang between 6.45 a.m. and 7.03 a.m. and that the missiles flew some 350 km at apogees of around 30 km at top speeds of Mach 6, reports Yonhap News Agency.
The visit underscored the two countries' commitment to working together to strengthen supply chains amid a post-pandemic global shortage of semiconductors.
No messages were directed at the South or the US in Kim's latest public speech, the official noted.'
The North has launched a barrage of missiles, including an intermediate-range ballistic missile, since the start of this year.
North Korea has so far not received any coronavirus vaccines amid its prolonged border controls against the pandemic.
It is currently led by Gen. Paul LaCamera who also leads the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command and the US Forces Korea.
