North Korea launches two more missiles

North Korea on Friday confirmed its two latest missile tests this week were successful. The country’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the two ballistic missiles launched Thursday were “surface-to-surface tactical guided missile” armed with a conventional warhead. The latest launches bring the total missile tests this year to six. North Korea has vowed to speed up its development of more powerful weapons.

What’s North Korea’s end goal? The country has continued to expand its military capabilities amid an extended freeze in nuclear negotiations with the United States. North Korea threatened stronger action after U.S. sanctions followed hypersonic tests this month. In a separate report, the KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un visited a munitions factory producing a “major weapon system,” but did not clarify. North Korea is also still battling the effects of the pandemic. The North Korea–focused 38 North website said commercial satellite images showed North Korea may have slowly started reopening its border after a strict two-year lockdown.

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