NOKOR CONFIRMS NEW BALLISTIC MISSILE TESTING

North Korea confirmed Friday it test-fired new tactical guided projectiles the previous day, state-run media reported, with many military analysts arguing the purpose of the launch was to put pressure on the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.

The report suggested North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not oversee the test-firing of what appeared to be ballistic missiles, according to a Kyodo News report

On Thursday, Japan and South Korea said North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan in the morning, conducting its first such launch in a year and first since Biden took office.

The two new tactical guided missiles, which can follow irregular trajectories at a low altitude, "accurately hit the target set in the waters 600 kilometers off the east coast of Korea," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

"The development of this weapon system is of great significance in bolstering up the military power of the country and deterring all sorts of military threats existing on the Korean Peninsula," the news agency added.

The Friday edition of the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, featured photos of a missile fired from a launch vehicle.

North Korea's firing of two ballistic missiles seems to be aimed at testing the Biden administration's resolve, foreign affairs experts say.

Earlier this month, meanwhile, Kim Yo Jong, younger sister and close aide of Kim Jong Un, criticized U.S.-South Korea military exercises that took place for 11 days from March 8, calling the drills a "rehearsal for war" and invasion.

North Korea's latest test-firing of missiles also came on the same day the torch relay for this summer's Tokyo Olympics, postponed from 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, started.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga strongly condemned the launch as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from firing ballistic missiles, saying it "threatened the peace and security of Japan and the surrounding region."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "concerned" about the situation on the Korean Peninsula, his spokesman said Thursday.

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