North Korea confirms missile tests, Biden warns Pyongyan, UN prepares summit

Kim Jong Un, Joe Biden (AP Photo / Ahn Young-joon)

• South Korea and USA: "Pyongyang's missiles are a priority"

• US attempts contacts with North Korea, still no response from Pyongyang

• North Korea: for US intelligence, Pyongyang is moving towards a new missile test

• North Korea: launch of missiles at sea: emergency meeting in Seoul

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March 27, 2021: North Korea confirmed that it has tested a

.

This is the first provocation since the election of President Joe Biden, who has warned Pyongyang from continuing the experiments while nuclear negotiations have stalled.

North Korean news agency KCNA said the two "new-type tactical guided missiles" accurately hit the target off the east coast.

Photos on the website of the leading Northern newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, showed a missile rising from a launcher amidst bright flames.

KCNA also quoted senior official Ri Pyong Chol, who supervised the test, stating that the development of the new weapon "is of great importance in strengthening the country's military power and deterring any kind of military threat existing on the Korean peninsula".

The test launches were the North's first major provocation since Biden took office in January.

Some experts say North Korea intended to put pressure on the Biden administration to increase its influence in future talks. "We are consulting with our allies and partners,"

said

- and there will be answers if they choose to step up missile tests. . We will respond accordingly. I am also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it must be conditioned on the final result of denuclearization. "

The

have requested a meeting Tuesday on the latest missile launches by North Korea.

It is learned from diplomatic sources.

The meeting, requested by France, Estonia, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom, should be held on Tuesday behind closed doors, the same sources explain.

The

has unanimously decided to extend the mandate of the group of experts that oversee the sanctions imposed on North Korea for its nuclear and missile program.

These experts are usually tasked with investigating both North Korean actions that could violate these sanctions (such as the latest missile tests) and to monitor the rest of the countries' compliance with the economic punishments facing Pyongyang.   

Today the

charge of sanctions against North Korea analyzed, at the request of the United States, the latest missile tests carried out by the Asian country.

It did so in an urgent closed-door meeting requested by Washington after the launch of two short-range ballistic missiles, Pyongyang's second test in a week.   

No official message came out of the meeting, although Norway, the country that currently chairs the Security Council committee, individually condemned the evidence and stressed the importance of implementing international sanctions and taking action against the North Korean authorities.

According to

, Biden's statements create "deep apprehension" by showing "rooted hostility" on the part of the US president.

"I think the new US administration has clearly got the first step wrong," Ri said in the statement relaunched by KCNA.

"If the United States continues with their reckless remarks without thinking about the consequences, they may be faced with something not right," he said, adding that North Korea was ready to "continue to increase our military might." 

Yesterday's missile action came after an earlier test of short-range non-ballistic missiles over the weekend and after joint exercises by the US and South Korean

and

a visit to the region by US Secretary of State

and Secretary of the Defense

, during which the head of US diplomacy repeatedly stressed the importance of denuclearizing North Korea.