North Korea fired two missiles on Sunday, shortly after a visit to Seoul by two US ministers - the first such tests since Joe Biden arrived at the White House - a US official said on Tuesday (March 23).

"We are aware of two missiles," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Other officials in the Biden administration insisted that it was a "short-range" system classified "under the category of normal northern military activities."

These shots "are not sanctioned by UN Security Council resolutions against Pyongyang's ballistic missile program", one of them told reporters.

“North Korea has a well-known menu of provocations when it comes to sending a message to US governments - ballistic missiles of various ranges, mobile and submarine launch pads, nuclear and thermonuclear tests. Experts have rightly found that what happened this weekend was at the very bottom of that spectrum, ”he added.

Observers had expected a North Korean act of defiance since the arrival of the new US president in January.

Unlike most previous shootings, this had not been reported by South Korea, Japan or the United States at the time.

Several experts have estimated on Twitter that they were probably cruise missiles, a relatively moderate response to the joint military maneuvers that Washington and Seoul have just carried out.

No contact for the moment

The Biden administration explained that it immediately noticed the shooting on Sunday, but did not want to "give too much publicity" to what it does not consider to be a major provocation.

The Biden administration is in the process of developing its strategy towards North Korea, after its predecessor Donald Trump's attempt at direct diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which resulted in no progress on the denuclearization of the reclusive country.

Since February, the new US administration has tried unsuccessfully to contact the North Korean leadership.

Last week, North Korea warned that it would not change its stance vis-à-vis the United States until it renounces its "hostile policy" towards it, as U.S. business ministers Foreign and Defense officials, Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, were in Seoul in particular to strengthen Washington's ties with South Korea against Pyongyang.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR