SEOUL/TOKYO - North Korea fired at least
one missile off its east coast on Wednesday that South Korea
said may have been launched from a submarine, a day after it
announced the resumption of talks with the United States aimed
at ending its nuclear programme.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the launch of
what he said were two ballistic missiles, one of which fell in
the waters of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), saying it
was a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The launch was likely a reminder by the North, which rejects
the U.N. resolutions banning the use of ballistic missile
technology as an infringement on its right to self-defence, of
its weapons capability ahead of the talks with Washington,
analysts said.
Talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear and missile
programmes have been stalled since a second summit between U.S.
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in
Vietnam in February ended without a deal.
South Korea's military said it had detected the launch of
one missile that flew 450 km (280 miles) and reached an altitude
of 910 km (565 miles). It was likely a Pukguksong-class weapon,
as the North's earlier submarine-launched ballistic missiles
(SLBM) were known, that is under development.
The National Security Council in Seoul expressed "strong
concern" over the launch of what it said may have been an SLBM,
according to a statement issued by the presidential Blue House,
that came just a day after the announcement of working-level
nuclear talks.
South Korea's military said the missile was launched from
around Wonsan, the site of one of North Korea's military bases
on the east coast, towards the sea. There was no immediate
explanation for the discrepancy with Japan's assessment that two
missiles had been fired.
North Korea had been developing SLBM technology before it
suspended long-range missile and nuclear tests and began talks
with the United States that led to the first summit between Kim
and Trump in Singapore in June 2018.
MONTHS OF STALEMATE
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said it
appeared two missiles were launched within minutes of each other
and that the second fell in Japan's EEZ at 7:27 a.m. local time
(2227 GMT Tuesday).
A senior U.S. administration official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said: "We are aware of reports of a
possible North Korean missile launch. We are continuing to
monitor the situation and consulting closely with our allies in
the region."
The latest launch was the ninth since Trump and Kim met at
the Demilitarized Zone border between the two Koreas in June and
pledged to reopen working-level talks within weeks.
Hours before Wednesday's launch, North Korean Vice Foreign
Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement the talks would be
held on Saturday in a development that could potentially break
what had been months of stalemate.
North Korea's previous missile launch was on Sept. 10, also
hours after Choe had expressed Pyongyang's willingness for talks
with the United States.
"It seems North Korea wants to make its negotiating position
quite clear before talks even begin," said Harry Kazianis,
senior director of Korean studies from the Center for the
National Interest.
"Pyongyang seems set to push Washington to back off from
past demands of full denuclearisation for what are only promises
of sanctions relief," he said.
Trump has played down North Korea's recent series of
short-range launches, saying in September the United States and
North Korea "didn't have an agreement on short-range missiles"
and that many countries test such weapons.
North Korea continued its attack against South Korea in a
commentary in its official newspaper on Wednesday, criticising
its joint military drills with the United States as
"unchangingly aggressive".
"The root cause of the stalemate in the North-South
relations lies, in short, in the South Korean authorities'
treacherous behaviour," the Rodong Sinmun commentary said.
Lee Sung-yoon, Professor of Korean Studies at The Fletcher
School at Tufts University, said North Korea had "recycled its
carrot-and-stick strategy" with the United States many times in
the past with success.