North Korea has reportedly fired two short-range missiles off its eastern coast, marking the seventh missile test since Donald Trump met with Kim Jong-un in June. The US president downplayed the launches as inconsequential.

Saturday’s tests were made from north-eastern South Hamgyong province, South Korea’s military said. The two short-range ballistic missiles traveled approximately 380km, stopping short of entering Japan’s territorial waters, it claimed.

The test is believed to be the seventh such launch since Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June.

Trump, however, kept cool, claiming no violations were committed.

“He likes testing missiles,” he said of Kim, adding that the North Korean leader “has been pretty straight with me – and we’re going to see what’s going on.”

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Pyongyang has defended the tests as a necessary show of force against joint US-South Korean military drills. The 10-day drills ended earlier this week, prompting speculation that North Korea would halt the launches.

The latest developments may indicate North Korea’s continued frustration over the diplomatic deadlock concerning its nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions. The tests come just hours after North Korea’s foreign minister issued scathing remarks aimed at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Ri Yong-ho described Pompeo as a “diehard toxin” and a “poisonous plant of American diplomacy.” The North Korean diplomat vowed that Washington’s “absurd dream” of using sanctions to force change in Pyongyang would never come to pass.

Also on rt.com Pompeo is ‘the diehard toxin of US diplomacy’, can’t fix ties with Pyongyang – N. Korean FM

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