SEOUL/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – North Korea test-fired two new short-range ballistic missiles yesterday, South Korean and U.S. officials said, its first missile test since Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to revive denuclearization talks last month.
The U.S. State Department urged Pyongyang to refrain from further provocations and said it still hoped for a resumption of the working-level talks stalled since a failed summit in Hanoi in February.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington continued to see a diplomatic way forward and anticipated new talks “in a couple of weeks.”
“We want diplomacy to work. We want Chairman Kim to deliver on the promise that he made to President Trump, which was that he would denuclearize,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg television.
South Korea, which had backed efforts by North Korea and the United States to end years of hostility, urged Pyongyang to stop acts unhelpful to easing tension and said the tests posed a military threat.
Seoul’s National Security Council said it believed the missiles were a new type of ballistic missile but it would make a final assessment with the United States.
Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said preliminary analysis suggested the missiles were similar to types North Korea tested in May, but showed enhanced capabilities.
Ballistic missile tests would be a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban North Korean use of such technology. North Korea rejects the restriction as an infringement of its right to self-defence.
It launched the missiles from the east coast city of Wonsan with one flying about 267 miles (430 km) and the other 428 miles over the sea. They both reached an altitude of 30 miles, an official at South Korea’s Defense Ministry said.
