CBS News
North Korea continues spate of weapons tests, firing multiple suspected short-range ballistic missiles, South says
Seoul, South Korea — North Korea fired suspected short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Friday, South Korea’s military said, a day after South Korea and the U.S. flew powerful fighter jets in a joint drill that the North views as a major security threat.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches were made from the Wonsan region of the North’s east coast around 3:10 p.m. It said South Korea’s military had bolstered its surveillance posture and was maintaining readiness.
In recent months, North Korea has extended its run of weapons testing as part of its efforts to enlarge and modernize its arsenal while diplomacy with the United States and South Korea remains dormant. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test firing of a new multiple rocket launch system, according to the North’s state media.
North Korea says it’s been forced to boost its nuclear and missile programs to deal with U.S.-led hostilities. North Korea cites expanded U.S.-South Korean military training, which it calls an invasion rehearsal.
Many foreign experts say North Korea uses its rivals’ military drills as a pretext for building a larger weapons arsenal in the belief that it would boost its leverage in future diplomacy with the U.S.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
On Thursday, two South Korean F-35As and two U.S. F-22 Raptors were mobilized for combined aerial exercises over the central region of South Korea. North Korea is extremely sensitive to the deployment of sophisticated U.S. aircraft.
Earlier Friday, Kim’s sister and senior official Kim Yo Jong said North Korea’s recent weapons tests were part of the country’s five-year arms buildup plan launched in 2021. She said the recently tested weapons are designed to attack Seoul, the South Korean capital, and denied outside speculation that the tests were meant to display weapons that North Korea plans to export to Russia to use in its war with Ukraine.
“We don’t conceal the fact that such weapons will be used to prevent Seoul from inventing any idle thinking,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which deals with North Korea, responded that it is fully ready to repel any military threats from North Korea in conjunction with its military alliance with the United States. Deputy ministry spokesperson Kim Inae also said that “illegal” arms deals between North Korea and Russia must be stopped immediately.
Agence France-Presse notes that Seoul claimed in March that Pyongyang had sent some 7,000 containers of arms to Russia for use in Ukraine since roughly July 2023.
Experts say North Korea wants a range of military aid from Russia in return, such as satellite technology and the upgrading of its Soviet-era military equipment.
President Biden has given the OK to lift restrictions that will allow Ukraine to use U.S.-provided long-range weapons to strike deep into Russian territory, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News on Sunday. The move is a significant change to U.S. policy in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict.
The easing of restrictions would allow Kyiv to use the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, to hit targets inside Russia. The move also comes as some 10,000 North Korean troops were sent to Kursk near Ukraine’s northern border to help Russian forces retake territory.
The White House National Security Council declined to comment to CBS News.
The U.S. decision could help Ukraine at a moment when Russian forces appear to be making gains and could put Kyiv in a better negotiating position when and if peace talks happen.
It also comes as Mr. Biden is about to leave office and President-elect Trump has pledged to limit American support for Ukraine and ending the war as soon as possible.
In an interview with Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne on Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would like to end the war with Russia next year through “diplomatic means.”
He said he is certain that the war will end “sooner” than it otherwise would have once Mr. Trump becomes president.
“It is certain that the war will end sooner with the policies of the team that will now lead the White House. This is their approach, their promise to their citizens,” Zelenskyy said.
February 2025 would mark the third year of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine with Russia’s troops gaining ground in recent months.
For several months, Zelenskyy and many of his Western supporters have been requesting to use U.S. weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border, saying the U.S. ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.
Some congressional Republicans have urged Mr. Biden to loosen the rules on how Ukraine can use U.S.-provided weapons.
contributed to this report.
CBS News
Ohio governor, other leaders condemn neo-Nazi march in Columbus: “Your hate isn’t welcome in our city”
Leaders in Ohio condemned a group of neo-Nazis parading around part of Columbus carrying flags with swastikas on Saturday afternoon.
Columbus public safety dispatchers told CBS affiliate WBNS on Saturday that they received multiple 911 calls around 1:30 p.m. about a group of individuals marching in the city’s Short North.
Video sent to the station showed nearly a dozen people wearing black pants, shirts and head coverings and red masks covering their mouths marching down the street. Three of the people were carrying black flags with red swastikas.
It was not immediately clear who was in the group.
Hours after the incident, Mayor Andrew Ginther released a statement saying the city rejects the “cowardly display” and that it “stands squarely against hatred and bigotry.”
“We will not allow any of our neighbors to be intimidated, threatened or harmed because of who they are, how they worship and whom they love,” Ginther said in his statement shared on X.
The city’s attorney, Zach Klein, said in a statement on X that those involved in the neo-Nazi march should “take your flags and the masks you hide behind and go home and never come back. Your hate isn’t welcome in our city.”
“This is not who we are, and we will not tolerate or normalize this disgusting ideology in any form,” he added.
Gov. Mike DeWine said in his own statement that the people involved in the incident were “spewing vile and racist speech against people of color and Jews.”
“There is no place in this State for hate, bigotry, antisemitism or violence, and we must denounce it wherever we see it,” he said.
Columbus Division of Police Sgt. Joseph Albert told WNBS that there were no arrests made, although he noted that many of the individuals were detained but later released.
Columbus, Ohio’s largest city, is located roughly 45 minutes from Springfield, where the Columbus Dispatch reported that neo-Nazis marched through the streets this summer as the city became the focal point of false claims about Haitian immigrants in the presidential election.
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