According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there are increasing indications of an imminent nuclear test by North Korea. "We hope it doesn't happen, but unfortunately the signs are pointing in the opposite direction," said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Thursday in New York. "Everyone is holding their breath because another nuclear test is "reconfirmation" of a nuclear program that is progressing in an "incredibly worrying" manner. "So we're following this very, very closely." However, Grossi also stated that in his view a test was not imminent.

South Korea and the US have repeatedly warned that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could be on the verge of testing a nuclear bomb for the first time since 2017 after a spate of missile launches in recent weeks.

According to the South Korean military, North Korea fired a potentially nuclear-capable missile again, as if to confirm this. After taking off, she flew towards the sea in the east, the general staff in Seoul announced on Friday. The projectile was therefore a ballistic missile. Further details are not known.

UN resolutions ban North Korea from testing ballistic missiles. Depending on the design, such rockets can also carry a nuclear warhead. North Korea has been conducting missile tests at an unusually high frequency since the end of September. According to the government itself, this should also simulate the shelling of airfields in South Korea with tactical nuclear weapons. A North Korean missile flew over Japan last month, and North Korea later said it undertook "tactical nuclear exercises".