North Korea Unleashes Barrage of Ballistic Missiles After US, South Korea Drills

North Korea fired a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles early Sunday, a day after the US and South Korea completed joint military exercises. South Korea’s military said a total of eight ballistic missiles were fired from somewhere near Pyongyang’s main airport towards waters off the east coast between 9:08 am and 9:43 am local time. The launch came after the Biden administration last week urged more sanctions on Pyongyang, and just hours after the US special envoy for North Korea visited Seoul to meet with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts. US Special Representative Sung Kim was in the country to discuss contingency plans as US intelligence officials say they see evidence of Pyongyang preparing to conduct a nuclear test, which would be the first since 2017.