North Korea fires suspected hypersonic ballistic missile

that the response to any North Korean aggression would be firm.

Amid concerns Russia and North Korea are developing closer military links, the United States and its major Asian allies South Korea and Japan are expanding security cooperation.

On Tuesday, aircraft from the three countries conducted air drills that involved a U.S. B-52H strategic bomber to enhance deterrence and counter capabilities against missile and nuclear threats from the North, South Korea said.

Officials in the United States, South Korea and Ukraine have accused North Korea of providing weapons such as missiles to Russia for use in the Ukraine war. Pyongyang and Moscow have denied the allegations.

South Korea announced sanctions on two Russian vessels that it said had transported munitions between North Korea and Russia, and two Russian organizations involved in hiring North Korean workers to help Pyongyang earn foreign currency, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the United States government is arranging a summit between President Joe Biden and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in July on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Washington, Japanese media outlets reported.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a ground test of a solid-fuel engine for a new type of intermediaterange hypersonic missile to develop national defense capability.