SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea on Saturday extended a recent streak of weapons display by firing what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, according to South Korea’s military.
Its fifth round of launches in less than three weeks was likely another protest at the slow pace of nuclear negotiations with the United States and continuance of U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises the North says are aimed at a northward invasion.
The South’s military alerted reporters to the launches hours after President Donald Trump said he received a “beautiful” three-page letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and predicted that they will have more talks to try resolving the nuclear standoff. Trump reiterated that he was not bothered by the flurry of short-range weapons Kim has launched despite the growing threat they pose to U.S. allies in the region, saying Pyongyang has never broken its pledge to pause nuclear tests.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the presumed ballistic missiles were fired from the North’s eastern coast and flew about 400 kilometers (248 miles) on an apogee of 48 kilometers (30 miles), before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Seoul’s presidential Blue House said the tests were likely aimed at verifying the reliability of the North’s newly developed weapons and also demonstrating displeasure over the allied drills.