North Korea has launched two suspected "short-range missiles" adding yet another layer of complication to Pyeongyang's stalled negotiations with the U.S. and peace talks with South Korea.
The launches come about two months after a collapsed talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Trump... where the North hoped to win relief from sanctions in return for a partial dismantlement of his nuclear weapons program.
They also came just in time for South Korean President Moon Jae-in's two-year anniversary in office and as he was set to discuss his plans to provide food aid to North Korea with Washington's pointman on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, currently in Seoul.
We have a bloc coverage this morning: we begin with Kim Ji-yeon.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed North Korea had fired two projectiles presumed to be short-range missiles from the Kusong region... in Pyonganbuk-do Province at 4:29 and 4:49 PM local time on Thursday... in the direction of the East Sea... with flying distances of some 420 kilometers and 270 kilometers each.
Both projectiles recorded flying altitudes of some 50 kilometers... and presumed to have landed in the East Sea.
The South Korean military said it has stepped up surveillance and monitoring in preparation for possible additional launches by North Korea... and that it remains fully prepared in close coordination with the U.S.
Initially, the military has said that the launch originated from the province's Sino-ri region some 40 kilometers away from Kusong.
Sino-ri is known to be an operational missile base that houses medium-range ballistic missiles like the Nodong -1.
The last time North Korea test-fired a missile was in November of 2017... when inter-Korean tensions were high and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump were locked in a heated verbal exchange.
As for last week's projectiles, the launch was confirmed by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff to have involved a new type of tactical guided weapon as well as 240- and 300-millimeter multiple rocket launcher systems.
The North described last week's launches as being part of the regime's "normal and self-defensive training," arguing that such training is different in nature from war drills... and said denying the right to such drills will result in consequences that no one would want to see.
Thursday's firing is expected to raise the issue of whether North Korea had violated a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions... that ban North Korea from testing ballistic missiles.
Kim Ji-yeon Arirang News.