Related video above: Alarms blare in Japan after NKorea missile testsNorth Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile that landed near Japanese territorial waters Friday, its neighbors said, the second such major weapons test this month that shows its determination to perfect weapons systems targeting the U.S. mainland.The launch was the latest in a barrage of weapons tests that North Korea has conducted in recent months in response to what it calls U.S. hostility. Some experts say the North is able to perform such a spree of weapons tests partly because China and Russia have opposed U.S. moves to toughen sanctions on North Korea.The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the suspected ICBM launch from North Korea's capital region at 10:15 a.m. and the weapon flew toward the North's eastern coast across the country. The statement said South Korea's military bolstered its surveillance of North Korea and maintains readiness in close coordination with the United States.The Japanese Defense Ministry also initially identified the weapon as an ICBM-class ballistic missile. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, visiting Bangkok to attend a regional summit, told reporters it was believed to have landed at sea inside Japan's exclusive economic zone west of Hokkaido, Japan's main northern island.If confirmed, it would be North Korea’s first ICBM launch in about two weeks. Experts said an ICBM launched by North Korea on Nov. 3 failed to fly its intended flight and fell into the ocean after a stage separation.The Nov. 3 test was believed to have involved a developmental ICBM called Hwasong-17. North Korea has two other types of ICBM — Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 — and their test-launches in 2017 proved they could potentially reach parts of the U.S. homeland.The Hwasong-17 has a longer potential range than the others and its huge size suggests it’s designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to defeat missile defense systems. Some experts say the Nov. 3 test showed some technological progress in the development of the Hwasong-17, given that in its earlier test in March, the missile exploded soon after liftoff.“North Korea has been repeatedly firing missiles this year at an unprecedented frequency and is significantly escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamad told reporters.South Korea’s presidential office said it convened an emergency security meeting to discuss the North Korean launch.North Korea had halted weapons launches for about a week before it fired a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday.Before Thursday’s launch, the North’s foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, threatened to launch “fiercer” military responses to the U.S. bolstering its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan.Choe was referring to President Joe Biden’s recent trilateral summit with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Cambodia. In their joint statement, the three leaders strongly condemned North Korea’s recent missile tests and agreed to work together to strengthen deterrence. Biden reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to defend South Korea and Japan with a full range of capabilities, including its nuclear arms.Choe didn’t say what steps North Korea could take but said that “the U.S. will be well aware that it is gambling, for which it will certainly regret.”Pyongyang sees the U.S. military presence in the region as proof of its hostility toward North Korea. It has said its recent series of weapons launches were its response to what it called provocative military drills between the United States and South Korea.There have been concerns that North Korea might conduct its first nuclear test in five years as its next major step toward bolstering its military capability against the United States and its allies.North Korea has been under multiple rounds of U.N. sanctions over its previous nuclear and missile tests. But no fresh sanctions have been applied this year though it has conducted dozens of ballistic missile launches, which are banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions.That's possible because China and Russia, two of the U.N. council's veto-wielding members, oppose new U.N. sanctions. Washington is locked in a strategic competition with Beijing and in a confrontation with Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

North Korea on Sunday launched a suspected ballistic missile into the sea, South Korean and Japanese officials said, in the North's apparent eighth round of weapons tests so far this year.South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch had happened without providing further details. Japan's Defense Ministry also said North Korea launched a possible ballistic missile.A maritime safety warning from Japan's Coast Guard said "an object possibly ballistic missile" was launched from North Korea and that it probably landed in the sea. Vessels in the area were warned to stay away from objects that may have fallen from the air and to report them to authorities.North Korea last month conducted seven rounds of missile tests in what some experts called an attempt to perfect its weapons technology and pressure the Biden administration to make concessions such as relief from economic sanctions. North Korea later halted testing activity after the start of the Winter Olympics in China, which is its last major ally and economic pipeline. Some experts had predicted North Korea would resume tests and possibly launch bigger weapons after the Olympics.

South Korea's president said Monday he'll keep striving to promote peace with North Korea through dialogue until the end of his term next May, after Pyongyang raised animosities with a resumption of provocative weapons tests.While launching a spate of newly developed weapons in recent weeks, North Korea has also slammed Washington and Seoul over what it calls hostility toward the North. Its actions indicate North Korea wants its rivals to ease economic sanctions against it and accept it as a legitimate nuclear state, experts say.In his final policy speech at parliament, President Moon Jae-in said he'll "make efforts to the end to help a new order for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula be established through dialogue and diplomacy."Moon, a champion of greater reconciliation with North Korea, once shuttled between Pyongyang and Washington to help facilitate now-stalled nuclear diplomacy between the two countries. Pyongyang turned a cold shoulder on Moon after its diplomacy with Washington broke down in early 2019 amid bickering over the sanctions.Moon praised himself for paving the way for a peace process on the Korean Peninsula by holding three summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and helping arrange the first-ever North Korea-U.S. summit between Kim and then-President Donald Trump in 2018. But Moon acknowledged his push for peace through dialogue remains "incomplete."Moon's single five-year term ends next May, and he's barred by law from seeking reelection. The presidential candidate of Moon's ruling liberal party has unveiled a similar North Korea policy as Moon's. Surveys indicate a neck-and-neck race with a potential conservative candidate, who will likely take a harder line on the North.The North Korean weapons systems tested recently are mostly short- and medium-range weapons that place South Korea and Japan within their striking ranges. Last Tuesday, North Korea fired a ballistic missile from a submarine in its most significant weapons test since President Joe Biden took office in January.Some experts say North Korea may test a longer-range missile that could pose a direct threat to the American homeland to increase its pressure on Washington in coming weeks.In part of his efforts to ease tensions and promote peace, Moon has recently been pushing for a symbolic declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War as a way to promote peace. When Moon meets Pope Francis at the Vatican this week, they'll discuss a possible North Korea trip by Francis as he has expressed hopes for that several times, according to Moon's office.