Just minutes after North Korea fired two short-range missiles, the US launched an intercontinental ballistic missile test, followed by a submarine ballistic missile test. US officials say the timing was coincidental.

The North Korean launch took place at 4:40pm local time from the Sino-ri missile base and the projectiles flew a distance of 260 and 170 miles, South Korean military officials said.

Shortly afterwards, a US Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was fired from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and the Air Force reports it flew 4,200 miles into the Pacific. It was the second US missile launch this month, and the fourth this year.

Linda Frost, Deputy, Media Operations of the Air Force Global Strike Command, told Fox News that the close timing of the US and North Korean tests were not related. “It’s important to note that our test launch is not a response or reaction to world events,” she insisted, adding that launch dates are lined up three to five years in advance.

Mere hours later, the US Navy fired an unarmed Trident II D5 missile from its ballistic-missile submarine USS Rhode Island. It was part of an operation to check the readiness of the submarine’s strategic weapon system and crew before operational deployment following its engineered refueling overhaul, the Navy said.

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Rear Adm. Michael Bernacchi, Commander, Submarine Group 10 said the crew had spent “the last nine months preparing for this test and the patrols that will follow.”

Thursday’s missile launches occured as US negotiator for North Korea Stephen Biegun is in Seoul, South Korea. US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met for talks in Hanoi, Vietnam in February, but failed to reach an agreement to end tensions.

Pyongyang had launched a number of short-range projectiles from its east coast five days beforehand, saying it was conducting a “defense units” test of its rocket launchers and tactical guided weapons.

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