Seoul: North Korea welcomed a US envoy’s visit to Seoul by firing two missiles Thursday, the South’s military said, in Pyongyang’s second launch in less than a week as it seeks to up the ante in deadlocked nuclear negotiations with Washington.
It came after North Korea carried out a military drill and fired multiple projectiles Saturday, when at least one was believed to be a short-range missile.
The North had not previously fired a missile since November 2017, shortly before a rapid diplomatic thaw eased high tensions on the peninsula and paved the way for a historic first meeting between its leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump.
Thursday’s launch came hours after the US Special Representative on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, arrived in Seoul late for talks with South Korean officials on the allies’ approach towards Pyongyang.
The North ‘fired what appeared to be two short-range missiles’, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, adding they flew eastwards for 270 and 420 kilometres and the South Korean and US militaries were jointly analysing them.
It earlier said the launched appeared to originate from Sino-ri in North Pyongan province, 75 kilometres northwest of Pyongyang.
One of the North’s longest-running operational missile bases is in the area, which the Centre for Strategic & International Studies said houses a regiment-sized unit equipped with Nodong-1 medium-range ballistic missiles.
Biegun met his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon for breakfast Thursday but much of his schedule was not made public.
The US envoy is due to meet the South’s foreign and unification ministers Friday as the security allies – Washington stations 28,500 troops in the South to defend it from its neighbour – work on their approach towards Pyongyang.