Seoul says North Korea fired 'projectiles'

Pyongyang has warned that military exercises involving the US and South Korea could threaten future talks. Image: Shutterstock

North Korea fired two "unidentified" projectiles into the sea on Thursday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, after warnings from Pyongyang over military exercises between Washington and Seoul next month.



The North has warned the war games could affect the planned resumption of denuclearisation talks between Washington and Pyongyang.



The North "fired one unidentified projectile at 5.34 am and the other at 5.57 am, from Wonsan areas into the East Sea, and they flew around 430 kilometres," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.



"Our military is closely monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture."



In Washington a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "I can confirm that it was... short-range."



Pyongyang last fired short-range missiles on May 9, which US President Donald Trump called "very standard stuff" that, he said, had not affected his relationship with the North's leader Kim Jong Un.



Kim and Trump agreed to a resumption of dialogue at an impromptu June 30 meeting they held in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas.



Following that meeting, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said working-level talks would probably start in mid-July. (AFP)