SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired two short-range missiles early on Thursday from its eastern coast, South Korea’s military said, the first missile test since leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to revive stalled denuclearization talks.
The missiles launched from near Wonsan flew about 430 km (267 miles) and reached an altitude of 50 km (30 miles) before falling into the East Sea, an official at South Korea’s defense ministry told Reuters.
Japan’s Kyodo News said, citing an unnamed government source, that the missiles did not reach Japan’s exclusive economic zone and had no impact on Japan’s national security.
The firing of ballistic missiles would cast new doubts on efforts to restart denuclearization talks after Trump and Kim met at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) at the end of June.
The White House, Pentagon and U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A senior U.S. administration official said: “We are aware of reports of a short-range projectile launched from North Korea. We have no further comment.”
Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton, who has taken a hardline toward North Korea, made no mention of the launches in a tweet on Thursday morning after a visit to South Korea, referring only to “productive meetings” with South Korean officials on regional security and building a stronger alliance.
The United States and North Korea vowed to soon hold new rounds of working-level talks, but Pyongyang has since sharply criticized upcoming joint military drills by U.S. and South Korean troops.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said earlier this month that Washington’s pattern of “unilaterally reneging on its commitments” by holding military exercises with South Korea was leading Pyongyang to reconsider its own commitments to discontinue tests of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“North Korea is clearly upset that the U.S. and South Korea are conducting joint military exercises,” said Harry Kazianis of Washington’s Center for the National Interest.
“We should not be shocked by this move and, in fact, we should have seen it coming.”
North Korea’s last weapons testing in May included short-range missiles as well as smaller rockets. At the time, Kim oversaw the first flight of a previously untested weapon – a relatively small, fast missile that experts believe will be easier to hide, launch and maneuver in flight.
On Tuesday, state news agency KCNA reported that Kim inspected a large, newly built submarine, accompanied by missile program leaders. It potentially signaled continued development of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) program.
Denuclearization talks between North Korea and the United States have stalled after a second summit between Trump and Kim in Vietnam in February broke down.
Trump has repeatedly stressed his good relationship with Kim and is keen for a big foreign policy win as he campaigns for re-election in 2020.
When Trump and Kim met last month he said they had agreed to resume working-level talks stalled since their failed summit in Hanoi in February.
On Monday, Trump stressed North Korea’s freeze in testing of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, which has been in place since 2017, and positive recent exchanges.
“There was a little correspondence recently,” he said. “We had very positive correspondence with North Korea. Again there’s no nuclear testing, there’s no missile testing, there’s no nothing.”
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week said the State Department had “a number of conversations with the North Koreans” and he hoped the talks with North Korea would begin soon.
