Pyongyang fired on Saturday (August 24th) two new missiles that could be short-range missiles, shortly after claiming to be the biggest "threat" to the United States, calling the Secretary of State "toxin" Mike Pompeo.

In recent weeks, North Korea has increased weapon trials to protest US-South Korean military maneuvers, which it considers a repeat of an invasion of its territory. The last test went back to Tuesday.

"The army has detected two unidentified projectiles suspected to be short-range ballistic missiles," the South Korean Joint Staff said in a statement on Saturday.

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The missiles traveled about 380 kilometers and reached an altitude of 97 km at a maximum speed of Mach 6.5 before crashing into the Sea of ​​Japan, known in Korea as the East Sea.

"Our troops are following the movements of the North in case of an additional launch, and are ready for any eventuality," the South Korean staff added in a statement.

"Deep concerns" of South Korea

The South Korean presidency has assembled its National Security Council (NSC) following these weapons tests and expressed its "deep concern" in a statement, observing that these firing occurred while the joint maneuvers between Washington and Seoul were finished.

"The NSC members have decided to continue diplomatic efforts to bring the North back to the negotiating table with the United States to achieve the goal of full denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," the Council said.

Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya also told reporters that Tokyo believed that North Korea fired "ballistic missiles" in violation of UN resolutions.

The United States, for its part, monitors the situation, according to a senior US official. "We are consulting closely with our Japanese and South Korean allies," he said.

The dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang stalled

Bilateral talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled since the failure of the second summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Hanoi in February.

The two leaders met again in June at the border in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which has separated the two states since the end of the Korean War (1950-53). The meeting resulted in the decision to restart discussions on the Pyongyang nuclear program, just over a year after Singapore's first Trump-Kim summit. However, these discussions have not yet resumed.

Visiting Seoul this week, US Special Envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun said the United States is "ready to start talks" as soon as it gets "news" from Pyongyang .

But North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho warned on Friday that his country would remain "the biggest threat" to the United States for a long time. He also cracked a frontal attack on Mike Pompeo that he called "irreducible toxin".

The US foreign minister had previously said in The Washington Examiner that if North Korean leader Kim Jong-un does not decide to denuclearize, the United States "will maintain the toughest sanctions in the world." 'history".

With AFP