Defiant North Korea tests ballistic missiles yet again
Mike Pompeo optimistic of negotiations with Pyongyang despite missile tests
SEOUL: North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, only days after it launched two similar missiles intended to pressure South Korea and the US to stop upcoming military drills.
The firings follow similar launches on July 25, the North’s first missile tests since leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump met on June 30 and agreed to revive stalled talks.
The series of missile tests raises the stakes for US and South Korean diplomats criss-crossing the region this week in the hope of restarting talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.
“North Korea’s actions do not help ease military tensions, nor do they help keep the momentum for talks that are underway,” South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung Wha said in Seoul before leaving for a Southeast Asian security forum in Bangkok. Kang urged North Korea to halt the missile launches.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and the top US North Korea negotiator were also headed to the ASEAN Regional Forum in the Thai capital, where Pompeo said he was holding out hope that US officials could meet North Korean counterparts.
On Wednesday, Pompeo said a fresh round of Us-north Korea talks was being worked out.
The latest launch comes ahead of newly appointed US secretary of defence Mark Esper’s first official visit to Seoul, which the Pentagon said on Tuesday was scheduled as part of a tour through Asia in August.
US military forces in South Korea were aware of Wednesday’s launch, a spokesman said.
Wednesday’s launches were from the Wonsan area on North Korea’s east coast, from which last week’s missiles had been fired, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.