North Korea on Saturday fired what appear to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, the South Korean military said.

The projectiles were launched from northeastern South Hamgyong province, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. They flew about 380 kilometers (236 miles) at the maximum altitude of 97 kilometers (60 miles).

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally supervised the test-firing of what the country's official state news outlet, the Korean Central News Agency (KNCA), called a "super-large multiple rocket launcher."

"The test-fire proved that all the tactical and technological specifications of the system correctly reached the preset indexes," the KNCA report said, before adding that Kim expressed "high appreciation" for the scientists who had designed and built it.

Kim also said the weapons tests were necessary "for resolutely frustrating the ever-mounting military threats and pressure offensive of the hostile forces."

In response to the test, the South Korean government called a National Security Council meeting.

Tests continue

Saturday's launch is the seventh such missile test by North Korea since US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un met at the inter-Korean border in June.

This is the seventh missile test by North Korea since Trump and Kim met at the inter-Korean border in June

The North had been expected to halt weapons tests because the 10-day US-South Korean drills, which Pyongyang views as an invasion rehearsal, ended earlier this week.

The North Korean weapons tested during the drills have been mostly short-range missiles and rockets. Some of the weapons revealed developments of a new rocket artillery system and two different short-range mobile ballistic missile systems that experts say would expand the North's ability to strike targets throughout South Korea.

Watch video 00:37 US Navy carrier strike group moves to Korean Peninsula

Dim prospects for talks

The latest missile test comes after the North Korean foreign minister's assertion on Friday that his country will try to remain "America's biggest threat" if the US continues to confront it with sanctions. Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho also called US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a "poisonous plant of American diplomacy" and vowed to "shutter the absurd dream" that sanctions will force a change in Pyongyang.

Read more: Why Russia, Iran seek deeper ties with North Korea

Ri's blistering rhetoric and the missile launches may dim the prospect of an early resumption of nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea.

US-led diplomacy to rid the North of nuclear weapons collapsed after President Trump rejected Kim Jong Un's demand for widespread sanctions relief in return for partial disarmament steps during their second summit in Vietnam in February.

Trump and Kim met again at the inter-Korean border in June and agreed to resume working-level negotiations. But since then the United States has so far been unsuccessful in attempts to get talks going.

'Handshake for peace' – Trump crosses into North Korea Third Kim-Trump meeting It was the third meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in just over a year. The first Trump-Kim summit took place in Singapore in June last year. A meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, was held in February 2019. Both meetings failed to provide a clear roadmap for North Korea's denuclearization.

'Handshake for peace' – Trump crosses into North Korea Making history Trump made history on June 30 with his latest encounter with Kim. He's the first sitting US president to visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides South and North Korea. Trump briefly crossed into North Korea as he shook hands with Kim. He said he was "proud to step over the line."

'Handshake for peace' – Trump crosses into North Korea Watching over the North Prior to his meeting with Kim, Trump flew to the DMZ with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The US president met with South Korean and American troops as he watched over North Korea from a military post in the DMZ. US presidents in the past have visited American troops on the South Korean side but not set foot in the DMZ.

'Handshake for peace' – Trump crosses into North Korea 'Great friendship' From calling Kim Jong Un "little rocket man" to someone he has a "certain chemistry" with, Trump has come a long way in his dealing with North Korea. On June 30, he once again emphasized his personal ties with the North Korean dictator. Kim, too, hailed his "wonderful" relationship with Trump, saying the latest meeting would enable nuclear talks.

'Handshake for peace' – Trump crosses into North Korea 'In no rush' Washington and Pyongyang blame each other for the impasse over nuclear talks, but Trump is hopeful for a breakthrough. Although his previous two meetings with the North Korean leader didn't yield any result, Trump said he was "in no rush" to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

'Handshake for peace' – Trump crosses into North Korea Regime survival Experts have warned that North Korea may never agree to fully give up its nuclear ambitions, which they say Pyongyang views as vital for regime survival. In March, new satellite imagery suggested that North Korea started rebuilding a rocket launch site before Kim and Trump's Vietnam summit in Feruary. The site had been dismantled last year as part of Kim's denuclearization pledge. Author: Shamil Shams



bk, sri/msh (AP, Reuters, AFP)

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