US Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in South Korea on Thursday for a visit aimed at underscoring the strength of the alliance between Washington and Seoul, a day after North Korea’s ballistic missile test, AFP and Agerpres reported.

Harris, who landed at Osan Air Base, 70 kilometers from Seoul, after a trip to Tokyo where he attended the national funeral of slain former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is due to meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.

She will also visit the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates South Korea from North Korea, which could trigger further responses from Pyongyang.

North Korea was recognized by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “the most destructive to international peace” during a visit to its border in August.

Shortly before Harris arrived in North Korea, Pyongyang conducted two ballistic missile tests, one on Sunday and the other on Wednesday, in a record string of weapons tests since the start of the year.

Aboard a US destroyer at a naval base before his departure from Japan, the US vice president accused Kim Jong-un’s regime of threatening regional stability with new missile launches, condemning their “illegal weapons program”.

Officials in Seoul and Washington have warned for months that Pyongyang is preparing to conduct another nuclear test. The test, which may take place as early as next month, after the Congress of the Communist Party of China, was assessed by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea.

The United States and South Korea are holding large-scale joint naval exercises this week, seen as a show of force in the face of growing provocations from the North.

Harris is expected to discuss with President Yun the long-standing security alliance between the two allies, strengthening their economic and technological partnership, as well as a number of other regional and global issues, his office said.

Seoul is also expected to raise concerns about a new law signed by U.S. President Joe Biden that would eliminate subsidies for electric cars made outside the U.S., hurting South Korean automakers such as Hyundai and Kia.