North Korea fires projectile ahead of nuke talks with U.S.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Wednesday fired at least one projectile toward its eastern sea, South Korea’s military said, in an apparent display of its expanding military capabilities ahead of planned nuclear negotiations with the United States this weekend.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff did not immediately confirm what the weapons were or how far they flew. The launch, which extended a torrid streak in weapons tests, came hours after a senior North Korean diplomat on Tuesday evening announced that North Korea and the United States have agreed to resume workinglevel nuclear negotiations this weekend.

After supervising a testing firing of what the North described as a “newly developed super-large multiple rocket launcher” last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was quoted by state media as saying that the system would require a “running fire test” to complete its development.

Nuclear negotiations have been at a standstill for months following a February summit between Kim and President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam. Those talks broke down after the U.S. rejected North Korean demands for broad sanctions relief in exchange for partially surrendering its nuclear capabilities.

North Korea followed the summit with belligerent rhetoric and conducted a slew of short-range weapons tests in recent weeks.

In a statement released through state media, Choe Son Hui, North Korea’s first vice minister of foreign affairs, said the two nations will have preliminary contact on Friday before holding working-level talks on Saturday.

The U.S. confirmed the talks.

“I can confirm that U.S. and DPRK officials plan to meet within the next week. I do not have further details to share on the meeting,” said State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.