Seoul: North Korea launched at least two unidentified projectiles towards the sea on Tuesday (Sept 10), South Korea’s military said, hours after the North offered to resume nuclear diplomacy with the United States but warned its dealings with Washington may end without new US proposals.
The North’s projectile launches and demand for new proposals were apparently aimed at pressuring the United States to make concessions when the North Korea-US talks restart.
North Korea is widely believed to want the United States to provide it with security guarantees and extensive relief from US-led sanctions in return for limited denuclearisation steps.
The North Korean projectiles fired from its South Pyongan province, which surrounds its capital city of Pyongyang, flew across the country and in the direction of the waters off its east coast, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and Defence Ministry.
The “short-range projectiles” were launched from around Kaechon in South Pyongan province at around 7am KST (2200 GMT Monday) towards the east and flew about 330 km, the JCS said in a statement.
The military said South Korea will monitor possible additional launches by North Korea but gave no further details such as the type of projectile North Korea fired.
On Monday night, the North’s first vice-foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, said North Korea is willing to resume nuclear diplomacy with the United States in late September but that Washington must come to the negotiating table with acceptable new proposals.
She said if the proposals don’t satisfy North Korea, dealings between the two countries may come to an end.
Tuesday’s launch is the eighth by North Korea since US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met at the heavily militarised border between the two Koreas in June.
Trump and Kim agreed then to restart working-level negotiations for denuclearisation talks that had stalled since an unsuccessful second summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi in February.
