North Korea on Monday fired a ballistic missile that flew 1,100 kilometers (685 miles) before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korea’s military said, extending its weapons testing weeks before Donald Trump returns as U.

North Korea said Tuesday it successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile, claiming the weapon would "reliably contain any rivals in the Pacific region."

The launch event came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul for talks with South Korean allies over the North Korean nuclear threat and other issues.

A standoff between rival government forces outside the presidential compound in South Korea is a startling development, even for observers used to the country’s famously rough and tumble politics

Protesters have thronged the official residence of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, where officials trying to arrest him were blocked by security guards.

South Korea's anti-corruption agency said on Monday that it had asked police to take over the execution of an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. The request comes after a failed attempt to execute an arrest warrant on Friday following a tense stand-off with presidential guards who formed a human chain to block access by the investigators.