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.

Many foreign media analyses suggest that the visit aims to solidify President Joe Biden's political legacy in terms of the US' "Indo-Pacific Strategy" and strengthen relations with Asian allies such as South Korea and Japan.

North Korea has fired what appears to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile towards the sea to its east, South Korea's military said, in what is Pyongyang's first missile launch in two months. The missile flew 1,100km before falling into the sea, the military said, adding that it "strongly condemns" this "clear act of provocation".

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to South Korea, Japan and France from Jan. 4-9, the State Department said on Friday, amid a political crisis in Seoul.

North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile Monday, Japan’s coast guard said, ratcheting up tensions in the region as political turmoil continues in neighboring South Korea.

The government has little to show for the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on pro-natal policies over nearly two decades.

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.

Washington, a return to normalcy would come as a relief regardless of who’s in charge in Seoul. The current crisis has been a nightmare from which the Americans would hope to awaken and discover

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."

By David Brunnstrom, Simon Lewis, Trevor Hunnicutt and Tim Kelly TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The foreign ministers of Japan and the United States said their countries' ties were stronger than ever on Tuesday,