North Korea tests ballistic missile as Blinken visits South Korea
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul (R) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shake hands during a joint press conference following their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on January 6, 2025. (Photo by Lee Jin-man / POOL / AFP)
(SEOUL, TOKYO and LONDON) — The South Korean military detected a projectile fired from North Korea that was suspected to be a medium-range ballistic missile, a test-launch that arrived as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea.
The missile was fired from the area surrounding Pyongyang, the capital, toward the East Sea at about noon on Monday, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The joint chiefs said the South Korean military has heightened surveillance for additional launches and is maintaining a readiness posture for sharing ballistic-missile-related data with the U.S. and Japan.
Blinken condemned the test, which he called “yet another violation of multiple Security Council resolutions.” He added that President Joe Biden’s administration has “sought to engage the DPRK and multiple efforts to sit down to talk without any preconditions.”
“We communicated that on many occasions. We’ve done it privately, we’ve done it publicly,” Blinken said during a press conference in Seoul. “And the only response, effectively we’ve gotten has been more and more provocative actions, including missile launches.”
The last time North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile was Nov. 5, just before the U.S. presidential election.
The U.S., South Korea and Japan have during Biden’s term bolstered their real-time information sharing capabilities, a move that Blinken on Monday had “strengthened our common defense and common deterrence.”
He said the launch on Monday amounted to “just a reminder” of the importance of that trilateral collaboration, which has also included military drills.
“All of that and more is a strong and effective response to the provocations from North Korea,” Blinken said. “So I have confidence that, because it’s so in the interest of all of us, it will continue and future administrations, whether it’s here, whether it’s in the United States, whether it’s Japan, we’ll continue to build on the work.”
Tokyo reacted swiftly to the launch, saying it was reinforcing its regional alliances through coordinated action with the United States and South Korea. Officials condemned Pyongyang while emphasizing the importance of a unified approach.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, speaking from Indonesia, issued a strong condemnation, describing the repeated launches as a grave threat to Japan’s national security and regional peace.
“We strongly protest and denounce North Korea’s actions, which endanger not only our country but also the international community,” he said, reaffirming Japan’s commitment to work closely with the U.S. and South Korea to bolster deterrence and conduct thorough surveillance.
Many office workers in Tokyo were returning to their jobs after the New Year’s holidays when news of the launch broke. The projectile reached an altitude of about 62 miles and traveled about 684 miles before falling into the Sea of Japan, another name for the East Sea, and outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, according to Japan’s Ministry of Defense. The Japan Coast Guard confirmed that no damage to vessels in the affected area had been reported.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed serious concern about North Korea’s advancements in missile technology.
“The frequency of these launches and the evident improvement in technology demand that we redouble our efforts to strengthen deterrence,” he said during a press conference. “Japan’s peace and independence must be safeguarded by our own resolve.”
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — President Joe Biden will see out his term knowing that President-elect Donald Trump — a man he fought desperately hard to unseat in 2020 and called a “genuine danger to American security” — will succeed him.
Foreign policy has been central in Biden’s long political career. It will likewise form a major chunk of his legacy, as will the two wars — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Middle East conflagration sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack — that erupted during his term.
Now less encumbered by political calculations — for himself or for Vice President Kamala Harris — and with only two months until Trump’s second inauguration, the outgoing president may have one last window to wield the power of the Oval Office in both theaters.
But with Trump looming above the outgoing Biden-Harris administration, American allies and enemies may be hesitant to engage with the outgoing administration.
European nations, for example, are already shifting focus to how best to court Trump, Leslie Vinjamuri of the British Chatham House think tank told ABC News.
“All these European leaders are very quickly reaching out,” she added. “They’re congratulating him. They want to talk with him. They want to work with him, because they understand that the stakes are extremely high and they clearly feel that by talking with him, they have an ability to influence policy and the outcome.”
“What they don’t want to do is to be seen to be making a deal with Joe Biden that undercuts whatever it is that Trump is going to do,” Vinjamuri added.
“It’s a very tricky position to be in, because if anything’s visible that cuts across what he wants to do, you as a leader risk being punished.”
Those at the top of American politics know that foreign policy success can accelerate careers and define legacies. Former President Richard Nixon infamously undermined President Lyndon B. Johnson’s efforts to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War during the 1968 election campaign for fear it would reduce his chances of victory.
Though he has already secured his second term, Trump appears unlikely to help the Biden administration with any foreign policy “wins” in its closing days.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty and room for maneuver — it’s highly unpredictable,” Vinjamuri said.
Russia and Ukraine
Russia’s war on Ukraine has dominated much of Biden’s presidency. He will leave office with Moscow’s forces holding large parts of Ukraine and still advancing, even if slowly and at huge cost.
“I think that now Biden can be much more decisive in support of Ukraine, especially when he sees that Trump will be the next president,” Oleksandr Merezhko — a member of Ukraine’s parliament and the chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee — told ABC News.
“Biden has his hands completely untied,” Merezhko added. “Now Biden is thinking about his legacy.”
“He might even try to take some decisions which will make irreversible changes in support of Ukraine — for example, he might lift all the restrictions on the use of the Western weapons on the territory of Russia,” Merezhko said. “And he might start the process of inviting Ukraine to join NATO.”
Merezkho acknowledged that progress on the NATO front might be ambitious. “Yes, he doesn’t have much time,” he said. “But he — with [National Security Adviser] Jake Sullivan and [Secretary of State] Antony Blinken — might do something creative to help Ukraine.”
It appears unlikely that Biden’s final months will bring Kyiv any closer to NATO membership. Ukrainian leaders are still pushing for an invitation to join the alliance despite fierce opposition from Russia — and hesitance among key alliance members. Allies have repeatedly said that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” but even top officials in Kyiv acknowledge this cannot happen amid war with Moscow.
The outgoing president may at least be able to ring fence much-needed funding for Kyiv.
Matthew Savill of the Royal United Services Institute think tank in the U.K., said Biden “might choose in his last months in office to use the remainder of the funding available for support to Ukraine under Presidential Drawdown Authority, amounting to over $5 billion.”
The Pentagon has already committed to rolling out new funding packages between now and January totaling some $9 billion. “That is consistent with how we’ve been doing this in the past,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told journalists last week. “It’s something that we’ve done on a pretty regular, almost weekly, basis.”
Biden has also reportedly already decided to allow non-combat American defense contractors to work in Ukraine to maintain and repair U.S.-provided weaponry.
Yehor Cherniev — a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the chairman of his country’s delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly — told ABC News that deeper sanctions on “Putin’s inner circle” are on Kyiv’s wish list, along with the delivery of all previously allocated aid, commitments for more, plus the end to restrictions on Western weapon use inside Russia.
Trump has suggested he would quickly end Russia’s invasion by threatening to cut off military aid to Kyiv unless it agrees to hand Moscow direct or indirect control of swaths of occupied territory in the south and east of the country.
As such, his election has raised concerns in Ukraine of an imminent sellout.
Merezhko, though, stressed the unpredictability of the president-elect. “Trump might become even more critical of Russia to show that all suspicions about him are groundless,” he said.
“We know that Trump loves his country and seeks to protect its interests in accordance with his vision,” Cherniev said. “Therefore, we are confident that the U.S. will not leave us alone with Russia, since this is not in the interests of the U.S. and the free world.”
“However, much will depend on Putin’s willingness to make concessions and compromises,” he added. “If the Russian dictator does not show due flexibility, I think Trump will increase his support for Ukraine.”
As to potential tensions between Trump and Biden in the coming months, Merezhko said, “Competition between them will continue.”
“For us, it would be better if they compete amongst themselves on who will do more for Ukraine.”
European nations, meanwhile, will be bracing for Trump while hoping to influence the president-elect’s take on the war.
Vinjamuri, of the Chatham House think tank, said Europeans will also be working closely with the Biden administration “to put in place everything that they can to keep Europe and Ukraine in as good a place as possible before Jan. 20, when Trump comes in and tries to negotiate a peace deal.”
“That means that getting Ukraine in the best position on the ground, because when you start negotiating a peace, a lot of what gets locked in is based on what land people hold,” she said.
The Middle East
The Biden administration’s pre-election Middle East diplomatic push does not appear to have made significant breakthroughs in either Gaza or Lebanon. Fierce ground fighting and devastating Israeli airstrikes continue on both fronts, with the toll of civilian dead and displaced growing ever larger.
The regional war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw around 250 taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel’s military response in the strip has killed some 43,600 people and injured more than 102,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Israel’s airstrike and ground campaign in Lebanon has killed more than 3,000 since Oct. 8, 2023, Lebanese health officials say.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replaced Defense Minister Yoav Gallant — one of his prime political rivals and an advocate for a cease-fire deal — on the eve of the U.S. election, reinforcing his position and entrenching his government’s commitment to what he has called “total victory.”
Hafed Al-Ghwell, senior fellow and executive director of the North Africa Initiative at the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins University, told ABC News he has little expectation of peace during Biden’s final months. “I don’t think he has any incentive to do anything,” Hafed said.
“In the case of Israel and Palestine, Biden has taken not just a political stand but an ideological one, and there is no sign that he is going to change that,” Hafed added. “He has called himself a Zionist, and he had ample opportunity to stop this war. Even when the United Nations proposed a resolution to end the occupation, he didn’t support it.”
“It would be really controversial for an outgoing president to make any major decisions,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu will be confident in the new White House’s backing in his suppression of Palestinian and Lebanese groups, as well as in his wider showdown with Iran.
Netanyahu “probably feels like he has a free run,” Vinjamuri said. “Even if Biden tried to push him, I’m not so sure he would be responsive, because he knows that Trump is now coming into office.”
Hafed suggested Netanyahu’s domestic concerns, too, will be driving his policy in the coming months. “He knows that the minute this war stops, the Israeli public won’t want him around,” he said. “So, he will continue the war in Lebanon and probably threaten Iran, knowing he will have the full support of Trump.”
Burcu Ozcelik at RUSI said the extent of Trump’s influence over Netanyahu tops “a complex list of unknowns.”
“Trump in recent weeks indicated that he was prepared to give Israel freer rein, provided that the war ended by the time he entered office,” he added.
Those living in the region will be left grappling with the fallout, Hafed continued. “For the people of the Middle East, Biden’s legacy is one of a bloodbath,” he said. “The region is bitter and battered.”
ABC News’ Luis Martinez contributed to this article.
Orna and Ronen Neutra, parents of Omer Neutra; Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Omer Maxim Neutra, an American-Israeli soldier, was among those killed on Oct. 7, 2023, as Hamas terrorists poured into southern Israel, officials said on Monday.
Neutra, 21, had been believed to have been taken alive to Gaza as a hostage, but the Israel Defense Forces on Monday said he was instead one of the about 1,200 killed during the surprise attack.
The soldier, who was from New York, had been a tank platoon commander in Israel’s 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion.
“Omer was a man of values, blessed with talents and a Zionist in every aspect of his being,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, which he released with his wife, Sara. “He immigrated to Israel to enlist in the IDF, chose a combat path and was chosen to command and lead.”
Netanyahu said Neutra, who was a captain, had “fought fiercely” as he led Israeli forces “to defend the settlements surrounding Gaza, until he fell.”
In a statement, the Neutra family said it’s “deeply grieving.”
“Our hearts are shattered with this devastating news. The Neutra family is deeply grieving and are requesting the public, who has shown great support throughout this journey, to please respect their privacy until they are formally ready to announce the next steps,” the statement read.
Israel said it had confirmed via intelligence that Neutra had died during the attack and that his body was still being held in Gaza.
Prior to his military service, Neutra had completed a preparatory year with the Tzabar Garin program, where he “loved sports, playing soccer, basketball, and volleyball, and served as the captain of his school’s sports teams,” according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“Family and friends described him as a warm, optimistic, and caring individual who ‘lights up the room the moment he enters,'” the forum said in a statement posted on social media on Monday.
Neutra’s parents, Orna and Ronen, spoke in July at the Republican National Convention. They told the crowd of their grief, not knowing for more than nine months, whether “your son is alive.”
“We need our beautiful son back,” Ronen Neutra said. “And we need your support — your support to end this crisis, and bring all the hostages back home.”
Netanyahu on Monday said he and his wife shared the family’s “heavy” grief.
“We will not rest or be silent until we return him home to the grave of Israel,” he said, “and we will continue to act resolutely and tirelessly until we return all our captives — the living and the dead.”
Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who represents the New York Congressional district where Neutra was from, wrote on social media on Monday that he was sending condolences to Neutra’s family.
“I have prayed for Omer and his family, and I ask all of you to join me in holding the Neutra family close as they seek to find peace and meaning in this tragedy,” Suozzi wrote.
Three Americans are still presumed to be alive among the dozens of hostages Hamas is still holding.
“We must fulfill the ultimate imperative: to return Omer, and all our abducted men and women — the living to their families, and the fallen and murdered to be laid to rest,” President Isaac Herzog of Israel said in a statement announcing Neutra’s death.
ABC News’ Dave Brennan, Joe Simonetti, Jordana Miller and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
Hillary Levey Friedman, author of “Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America,” says that a “reckoning” is happening in pageantry; ABC News
(LONDON) — The magic and drama of beauty pageants have long captivated global audiences. However, one of the most prominent pageants in the world, Miss Universe, historically a springboard to opportunities for women, is now in turmoil amid the organization’s legal troubles and brand backlash.
Victoria Kjær Theilvig, a 21-year-old animal rights activist and aspiring lawyer who competed as Miss Denmark, earned the crown at the 73rd Miss Universe pageant on Nov. 16.
“She has been on everybody’s favorite list. She’s unique,” pageant coach and blogger Rafa Delfin, who attended the event in Mexico City, told “Impact x Nightline.” “Miss Universe has not had a blond queen since 2004.”
For the first time in more than a decade, Miss USA did not place among the semi-finalists at the pageant. Representing the country was West Point graduate and current Stanford graduate student Alma Cooper, the first active-duty soldier to ever win Miss USA.
In the latest episode of ABC News’ “Impact x Nightline” — titled “Cracks in the Crown: Miss Universe in Crisis?” — which premiered on Thursday, Nov. 21, pageant insiders pull back the curtain on allegations of disarray within the Miss Universe Organization (MUO).
These range from restrictive contracts that contestants have to sign to compete, to the co-owners’ legal troubles and the declining quality of the pageant production itself.
“There’s a reckoning happening in pageantry,” Hilary Levey Friedman, the author of “Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America,” told “Impact x Nightline.” “It really truly may be the end of Miss USA or Miss Universe.”
Rafa Delfin, a dedicated fan who covers various pageants for his blog “Critical Beauty,” complained in a video posted on social media that the pageant’s preliminaries, which took place on Nov. 14, were “a total disaster.”
He noted the brief on-screen time that the record number of candidates — 41 more than the 84 seen in 2023 — were given in this year’s evening gown round.
“This is a business, OK? The more countries you invite, obviously, the more money you make,” Delfin said, noting the result was quantity over quality.
Questions also surfaced about the ethics of the current leadership. Just weeks before the competition, the Miss Universe co-owner, Thai media mogul Anne Jakrajutatip, and former Miss Venezuela Organization President Osmel Sousa went live on a since-deleted TikTok revealing their personal favorites.
The duo also mocked Miss Lebanon, Nada Koussa, in a separate video that surfaced on Instagram. In response, Koussa withdrew from the pageant.
The Lebanese Ministry of Tourism demanded an apology from MUO. Once that was issued, Koussa returned to the pageant and the video was taken down.
“It’s a fragile ecosystem and it’s a very trust-based ecosystem,” said Annemarie Pisano, former Miss Universe Organization press manager. “If you do lose that trust, that’s definitely going to be a problem for a lot of women.”
Under the leadership of Jakrajutatip and Mexican businessman Raul Rocha Cantu, who acquired 50% stake in Miss Universe Organization in January, the pageant company made changes like removing age limits and allowing mothers and women who are married, divorced or pregnant to compete.
However, Jakrajutatip, the first transgender woman to own the organization and a self-proclaimed trans rights activist, seemed to contradict the brand’s public statement in an October 2023 business meeting involving the organization’s leaders that surfaced online a few months ago.
“The trans women, the women with husbands, divorced women …” she said during the meeting. “They can compete but they cannot win. But we just put the policy out there, so you have that social inclusion.”
Jakrajutatip responded to the video in a social media post.
“The malicious edited video was out of context and used to manipulate other people which led to the public confusion, misunderstanding, misinterpretation and wrong conclusion,” she wrote.
Omar Castorino Montanaro, a Paraguayan business tycoon and TV host who was involved in the organization, highlighted the competition’s fading relevance.
“Women, young women, are losing interest in the brand and being or trying to be part of that dream of becoming a Miss Universe,” he told “Impact x Nightline.”
The Miss USA Organization, a franchise under parent company MUO, has faced its own struggles since Laylah Rose took over Miss USA management in 2023. After Miss USA Noelia Voigt and Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava gave up their crowns in May 2024, state directors representing nine states and Washington, D.C., have since stepped away from the organization.
In interviews, some directors cited “abusive management” and the “unprofessionalism” of the new leadership as reasons for leaving.
ABC News has exclusively learned that the current Miss USA, Alma Cooper, has retained an attorney in connection with her role as Miss USA. The organization declined to comment. ABC News reached out to Rose for an interview and comment, but did not receive a response.
“The people that have the ability to produce these pageants and direct these girls, we need to hold them more accountable,” Claudia Englehardt, the former Social Media Director of Miss USA Organization, told “Impact x Nightline.” “It’s never the girl that is the problem. More often than not, it’s the people that are managing these young women in these positions.”
The Miss Universe Organization’s leadership has faced allegations as well. Rodrigo Goytortua, former CEO of Miss Universe Mexico, filed a lawsuit against MUO co-owner Raul Rocha Cantu, alleging that Rocha Cantu did not pay him for seven months of his work. ABC News reached out to Rocha Cantu for an interview and comment, but did not receive a response.
Paula Shugart, former president of the Miss Universe Organization who resigned in 2023, has also given power of attorney for a lawyer in Thailand to file a criminal claim on her behalf against Jakrajutatip for defamation. Jakrajutatip denied any wrongdoing.
Omar Castorino Montanaro, who said that MUO promised him a hosting role for Miss Universe 2025 in Paraguay, alleged that the organization stopped responding to him after he made a $500,000 deposit and spent months in preparation. The host country of the next Miss Universe pageant has yet to be announced.
ABC News also reached out to The Miss Universe Organization and Jakrajutatip for an interview and comment, but did not receive a response.
After ABC News’ “Impact x Nightline” episode “Cracks in the Crown: Miss Universe in Crisis?” premiered, the Miss Universe Organization issued a press release statement on its website.
“We ardently refute these allegations that underscore our dedication to maintaining a supportive, ethical environment for all participants. Our authenticity and dedication to promoting cultural interactions, social activism, and personal development go beyond conjecture, grounded in decades of positive impact around the globe, ” it said in part.
“Miss Universe remains unwavering in its mission to foster unity, celebrate diversity, and champion women’s empowerment.”
Now, some wonder what the future holds for MUO.
“Women today are not as willing to sit back and say, ‘I’m going to let someone in a position of power abuse their position,'” author Hillary Levey Friedman told “Impact x Nightline.”
