This will not please President Trump.

Just as Lighthizer and his band of merry trade-deals-men prepare to head to China for face-to-face talks, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports that North Korea has fired an unidentified projectile.

(URGENT) N. Korea fires unidentified projectile: S. Korea's JCS https://t.co/UkS0UUYD7f — Yonhap News Agency (@YonhapNews) July 24, 2019

South Korea's joint chiefs of staff have confirmed the unidentified projectile's firing from the Wonsan region of North Korea. The launch took place “early morning” today, according to the statement.

CNN reports that an initial assessment described by a US defense official confirms that North Korea has launched at least one short range projectile. The official added that the launch appears to resemble the May 2019 firing of two short-range missiles, which traveled approximately 260 miles.

Bloomberg reports that South Korean military are monitoring movement and preparing for additional launches.

As a reminder, at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan in June, Xi urged US President Donald Trump to show "flexibility" and act in a "timely" fashion to ease sanctions on North Korea, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said earlier this month.

Xi's request reflected Beijing's desire to boost economic engagements with Pyongyang, analysts said.