North Korea tested railway-borne missile as US tension rises

North Korea has tested a railway-borne missile in its firing drills. The state media KCNA disclosed this amid a U.S. push for fresh sanctions against the isolated state following its recent series of weapons tests. However, the officials of KCNA news agency did not specify the missiles' range, or trajectory, but said a firing drill was held in North Pyongan Province to check and judge the proficiency in the action procedures of the railway-borne regiment. 
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff had informed that two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) traveled about 430 km (267 miles) to a maximum altitude of 36 km (22 miles) after being launched eastward on the northwest coast of North Korea. Earlier U.S. President Joe Biden's administration imposed its first sanctions against Pyongyang on Wednesday, and called on the UN Security Council to blacklist several North Korean individuals and entities. North Korea, in recent months, has been ramping up tests of new missiles designed to overwhelm missile defences in the region amid pandemic-related border closures. Experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is going back to a tried-and-true technique of pressuring neighbouring countries and the US with missile launches and outrageous threats before offering negotiations meant to extract concessions.