North Korea fires submarine-launched missile
North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile Saturday, Seoul said, its second missile launch in three days after the United States warned Pyongyang could be preparing for a nuclear test. North Korea has dramatically ramped up its sanctions-busting missile launches this year, conducting 15 weapons tests including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time since 2017. The Saturday launch comes two days before South Korea swears in a new, hawkish President Yoon Suk-yeol. Satellite imagery indicates North Korea may be preparing to resume nuclear testing, and the US State Department on Friday warned a nuke test could come "as early as this month". "Our military detected around 14:07 (0507 GMT) that a short-range ballistic missile presumed to be an SLBM fired from waters off Sinpo, South Hamgyong," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Sinpo is a major naval shipyard in North Korea and satellite photographs have in the past shown submarines at the facility. Japan's coast guard, citing information from its defence ministry, said North Korea had launched an object "likely to be a ballistic missile" and warned its vessels to be aware. (AFP)