North Korea test-launches ballistic missiles

North Korea test-launched the two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea Friday. South Korea, Japan, and the United States all condemned the tests. These launches constitute the North’s first missile test since the United States, South Korea, and Japan said that the country couldn’t test nuclear weapons without facing severe repercussions.

Why are the launches happening now? The North launched the missiles on the last day of South Korea’s annual 12-day “Hoguk” training sessions. The U.S. has an unspecified number of troops involved in the exercises. North Korea sees such regular drills by Seoul and Washington as aggressive, though the allies say their exercises are defensive in nature.

Dig deeper: Listen to my report on The World and Everything in It podcast about North Korea’s arsenal ambitions.