Pyongyang tested ballistic missiles hours after the North Korean dictator claimed that country needs not rockets but food.

North Korea on Wednesday fired what appears to be a ballistic missile toward the East Sea, South Korea's military said, in the recalcitrant regime's first show of force this year.

The North launched the missile eastward at around 8:10 a.m. from a site in its northern province of Jagang bordering China, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said without further elaboration.

Jagang Province is the region from which the North fired what it claimed to be a hypersonic missile, called Hwasong-8, in September last year.

In consideration of what we have detected, the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis, the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific command confirmed launch stating that it once did not threaten the America's and allies assets.

While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies, the ballistic missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of the DPRK’s illicit weapons program, the author of the statement said.


A Challenge to Peace Negotiations

A few hours later, South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited the South Korean east coastal city of Goseong near the border with the North, where he broke ground for a new rail line that he called “a stepping stone for peace and regional balance” on the Korean Peninsula.

In remarks at the ceremony, Mr. Moon acknowledged the launch raised concerns of tensions and damage to inter-Korean relations, and called for North Korea to make sincere efforts for dialogue.

We should not give up the hope for dialogue in order to fundamentally overcome this situation, he said. If both Koreas work together and build trust, peace would be achieved one day, Mr. Moon concluded.