South Korea’s military said Sunday that North Korea has fired at least one ballistic missile into waters off its east coast, the latest in a long series of tests.

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“North Korea fired one or more unidentified ballistic missiles into the East Sea,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the Sea of ​​Japan.

Pyongyang has stepped up efforts to improve its weapons program this year, despite severe economic sanctions.

The leaders of the United States and South Korea have warned for weeks that Kim Jong Un’s regime may conduct a seventh nuclear test.

In May, it test-fired three missiles, including the Hwasong-17, which may be the largest ICBM. The launch came just days after US President Joe Biden left South Korea, where he met his recently elected counterpart Yoon Seok-yeol.

New satellite images show that North Korea, which has been hit by a powerful pandemic wave of COVID-19, has resumed construction of a long-dormant nuclear reactor.