North Korea Fires Multiple Unidentified Projectiles, South Korean Media Reports
North Korea fired multiple unidentified projectiles early Wednesday morning local time, according to South Korean media reports.
The objects were shot from the Hodo Peninsula in South Hamgyong province, which is on the North’s east coast, stated South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, who added that they are monitoring the situation and maintaining a readiness posture.
“We are aware of reports of a missile launch from North Korea and we will continue to monitor the situation,” a senior Trump administration official said.
After negotiations between the Trump administration and North Korea broke down at a summit between the two leaders in Vietnam in February, the North in April said it had begun testing weapons again, including a “powerful warhead.”
In May, the dictatorship tested “two short-range missiles” as well as other projectiles, conducting two weapons tests in less than a week, according to South Korea’s military.
Those missiles were the first the North has tested since November, 2017, after which the country ceased tests during the months leading up to the historic first summit meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Trump.
Then last week, six days before Wednesday’s launches, the North launched another two short-range ballistic missiles.
Those missiles traveled about 267 miles and reached an altitude of 31 miles, eventually landing in the Sea of Japan.
The U.S. has levied crippling sanctions on North Korea in the meantime, demanding that the country retire its nuclear weapons development program in exchange for economic relief.
Last month, on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Singapore summit, North Korea demanded the U.S. “withdraw its hostile policy” toward the state or face the disintegration of an agreement reached at the summit to work towards denuclearization.
