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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears in a broadcast at a railway station in Seoul. Photo: Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watched the successful launch of the country's second hypersonic missile test in less than a week after, as he vowed to bolster the country's nuclear weapons program, state media reported.

Why it matters: South Korea's military, which detected the suspected ballistic missile into the eastern sea, said Tuesday's launch was assessed to be "more advanced" than the Jan. 5 one, per Reuters.

  • Kim's vow is the latest indication that North Korea does not intend to rejoin stalled denuclearization talks, and came as the UN Security Council met in New York to discuss last week's test.

What they're saying: The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that it was consulting closely with allies and had determined that the latest launch was of no "immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies," but it "highlights the destabilizing impact" of Pyongyang's " illicit weapons program."

  • On Monday, six countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Japan, issued a statement condemning last week's launch and calling on North Korea "to refrain from further destabilizing actions ... and engage in meaningful dialogue towards our shared goal of complete denuclearization."

Go deeper: President Moon Jae-in: End to Korean War agreed to "in principle"

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

Go deeper

Updated Jan 13, 2022 - World

U.S. presses UN to hit North Korea with more sanctions over missile tests

A broadcast reports on North Korea's Kim Jong-un at the Seoul Railway Station in South Korea. Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

The Biden administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on North Korean and Russian individuals and entities for supporting North Korea's ballistic missile program.

Driving the news: The announcement follows North Korea's two missile tests in the past week and leader Kim Jong-un's threat to bolster the country's nuclear weapons program.

Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

One hostage released as FBI continues crisis negotiations at Texas synagogue

SWAT team members deploy near the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, on Jan. 15. Photo: ANDY JACOBSOHN/AFP via Getty Images

The FBI's Dallas Field Office and Texas Department of Public Safety are assisting an "active operational and investigative" hostage situation in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Saturday, according to a statement from the local police department in Colleyville, 15 miles northeast of Fort Worth.

The latest: "Shortly after 5 p.m. [CST], a male hostage was released uninjured" from Congregation Beth Israel where SWAT operations are active, the police department said in an updated statement. "FBI Crisis Negotiators continue contact with the subject."

The new normal: Google searches reveal America's COVID shopping habits

Data: The New Normal; Google Trends; Chart: Jared Whalen/Axios

As the pandemic enters its third year, some of America's COVID-era shopping habits — including strong demand for tequila and sweatpants — are here to stay.

Driving the news: Axios worked with Google Trends and the Schema Design firm to create The New Normal, which analyzes the products Americans have Googled since 2020. Items with a lasting increase in search interest help fill in the details of what our "new normal" looks like.