SEOUL, South Korea _ North Korea fired an unidentified projectile early Sunday morning, only days after South Korea elected a new president who has vowed to engage with Kim Jong Un's regime.
The projectile was fired from its western city of Kusong, northwest of Pyongyang, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message. It wasn't immediately clear what kind of projectile it was or whether the test succeeded.
The action provides an early test for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who came to office on May 10 saying he would visit Pyongyang under the "right circumstances" to bring peace to the peninsula. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has signaled that it may use military force to prevent North Korea from developing a missile that can carry a nuclear warhead as far as North America.
If Sunday's projectile is confirmed as a ballistic missile, it will be North Korea's seventh such launch this year, defying United Nations sanctions and Trump's warnings. The regime has persisted with the tests even as Trump lauds efforts by China _ North Korea's main ally and economic lifeline _ to rein in its neighbor.
Kim has launched dozens of projectiles and conducted three nuclear tests since he came to power after his father's death in 2011. He claimed in January to be in the final stages of preparations to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile, and has since launched several intermediate-range projectiles with varying degrees of success.
