South Korea’s military says North fires ballistic missile

The two allies held their second session of the Nuclear Consultative Group in Washington on Friday, where they discussed nuclear deterrence in the event of conflict with the North.

A spokesman for the North’s defence ministry on Sunday slammed the allies’ plans to expand a key annual joint military drill next year to include a nuclear operation drill and warned of “a pre-emptive and deadly counteraction”.

“This is an open declaration on nuclear confrontation to make the use of nuclear weapons against the DPRK a fait accompli,” the statement carried by the KCNA news agency said, using the official acronym for North Korea.

China and North Korea pledge stronger cooperation in rare talks

And last month Pyongyang successfully put a military spy satellite into orbit. It has since claimed its eye in the sky was already providing images of major US and South Korean military sites.