North Korea on Saturday launched several short-range missiles to the Sea of Japan, the South Korean military said, while the process of denuclearization of Pyongyang is deadlocked.
North Korea “launched several short-range missiles from the Hodo Peninsula, near the coastal town of Wonsan, in a northeasterly direction between 09:06 [20:06 Montreal time] and 09:27 am today. today, “said the South Korean military command in a statement.
The missiles traveled 70 to 200 km above the Sea of Japan, “he said.
“We are aware of North Korea’s actions tonight. We will continue to monitor, “said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. The Japanese Ministry of Defense for its part said that no missile had a priory over Japan.
Earlier this week, Pyongyang warned the United States of “an undesirable result” if they did not adjust their position by the end of the year, while negotiations on the ballistic and nuclear program of the North Korea have stalled for three months.
“Our resolution on demilitarization remains intact and we will do it when the time comes,” said North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui.
“But that will only be possible if the United States revises and reformulates their current calculation,” she said. If they “do not adjust their position before the deadline we have proposed, they will face (an) undesirable result”.
“Kim has decided to remind the world – and especially the United States – that its weapons capabilities are increasing day by day,” said Harry J. Kazianis, director of Korean studies at the Center for the National Interest in Washington.
“My fear is that this is the beginning of a return to the time of threats of nuclear war and personal insults, a cycle of dangerous tensions that must be avoided at all costs,” added the expert.
In November and April, Pyongyang had already announced that it had tested mysterious “tactical weapons”, without further details. These were the first weapons tests announced by the North since the start of its negotiations with the United States on its military programs in 2018.
The North Korean regime, however, has so far refrained from testing ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons, which would bring a definitive halt to its rapprochement with Seoul and Washington. The last missile fire was in November 2017.
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Saturday’s launches “do not violate the Kim Jong Un-imposed missile test moratorium”, which “applies only to intercontinental ballistic missiles,” the Seoul-based expert said. North Korea Ankit Panda.
“Historically, North Korea has never tested anything while talks are being held with the United States, and there are no talks now,” he said.
The North Korean short-range missiles, however, are capable of striking the Seoul megalopolis, close to the inter-Korean demarcation line, and a large portion of South Korean territory. The Hodo Peninsula, from which they were fired, has been the scene of a decade of many tests of ballistic missiles and artillery, recalled the 38 North specialty site.
Following the Singapore summit’s bestowal in June 2018, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un quit in Hanoi in February over a disagreement: Kim called for a lifting of sanctions that was too important for Mr. Trump, in exchange for a start of denuclearization deemed too timid.
Three months later, the process is still deadlocked. Negotiations on atomic disarmament never resumed, and North Korea has indicated that it no longer wants to see at the table of the talks the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accused of having “insane ideas and dangerous goods “.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said on Friday that Pyongyang should show a “visible, concrete and substantial” denuclearization to obtain sanctions relief.
Meanwhile, in late April, Kim met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok for their first summit, during which he complained about US “bad faith” in the nuclear crisis.
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