The U.S. secretary of state aimed to show that his country stood by South Korea as it grapples with a political crisis, and as Donald J. Trump returns to power.

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.

As Ukrainian forces mount a new offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said that success in this region would improve Kyiv’s bargaining position in any future ceasefire negotiations.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that several “seriously wounded” North Korean soldiers died from their injuries after being captured by Ukrainian forces.

Although the precise details of the arrangement have not been made public, there has been considerable media coverage of North Korea’s dispatch of combat troops to Russia to support Vladimir Putin’s offensive in Ukraine.

As Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits, Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt to declare martial law calls into question President Joe Biden’s trust in South Korea’s leader.

North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on Monday, South Korea's military said, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul amid a political crisis in the country.

Her departure reflects a growing sense of anxiety within the Defense Department over the incoming administration and how it plans to treat the ranks of career civil servants and military flag officers.

Ukraine has largely been driven out of Kurakhove, a battered but strategic town in the Donbas, Russia said. Kyiv’s forces were pressing a renewed offensive in southern Russia.

South Korea’s military says North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew 685 miles before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Kyiv launches surprise Kursk attack on Putin’s forces in three directions - Russia has lost ‘up to a battalion’ of North Korean and its own forces in past 48 hours, says Zelensky