South Korea called an emergency National Security Council meeting where members denounced the launch as a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will never abandon the nuclear weapons it needs to counter the United States, which he accused of pushing to weaken the North's defenses.
The north's stockpile of bullets and artillery rounds are compatible with Russia's weapons, but may be lower-quality. Transferring anything more powerful would get much more complicated.
While Washington and Seoul describe their exercises as defensive, North Korea portrays them as invasion rehearsals and has used them to justify its nuclear weapons and missiles development.
The North's official news agency also reported that Kim's sister blamed the COVID outbreak on leaflets flown from across the border from South Korea, while warning of deadly retaliation.
North Korea on Sunday slammed the United States, South Korea and Japan for pushing to boost their trilateral military cooperation, warning it would reinforce its military capability.
North Korea on Sunday slammed the United States, South Korea and Japan for pushing to boost their trilateral military cooperation, warning it would reinforce its military capability.
The barrage of eight missiles test-fired over 35 minutes extends a streak in weapons demonstrations this year that U.S. and South Korean officials say may culminate with a nuclear test explosion.
After saying there were no cases, officials on May 12 announced an outbreak. But without an adequate supply of tests, some say North Korea is "flying blind." And it still doesn't have vaccines.
The isolated East Asian country has only stated how many people have fevers daily, and has only identified a few of the cases as COVID-19 since admitting to an outbreak of the omicron variant.
North Korea has confirmed 15 more deaths and high numbers of fevers as it mobilizes more than a million health and other workers to try to suppress the country's first COVID-19 outbreak.
North Korea has test-fired a new type of tactical guided weapon designed to boost its nuclear fighting capability, state media reported Sunday, days after it passed its biggest state anniversary.
North Korea is marking a key state anniversary Friday with calls for stronger loyalty to Kim Jong Un, but there was no word on an expected military parade amid heightened international tension.
