Top Asian News 4:44 a.m. GMT

US hits NKorean officials with sanctions after missile test

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Wednesday slapped sanctions on five North Korean officials in its first response to Pyongyang’s latest ballistic missile test and later announced it will also seek new U.N. sanctions. The Treasury Department said it was imposing penalties on the five officials over their roles in obtaining equipment and technology for the North’s missile programs. In addition, the State Department ordered sanctions against another North Korean, a Russian man and a Russian company for their broader support of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction activities. The Treasury's moves came just hours after North Korea said leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a successful flight test of a hypersonic missile on Tuesday that he claimed would greatly increase the country’s nuclear “war deterrent.” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S.