Washington will ask China to encourage Pyongyang to hold talks
North Korea launches two short-range ballistic missiles
A television screen at a railway station in Seoul shows a news broadcast of a North Korean missile test.
A.F.B
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles yesterday, the South Korean military said, in the latest in a series of record-breaking tests it has conducted this year.
"Our soldiers detected two short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at approximately 16:32 (7:32 GMT) yesterday towards the East Sea," also known as the Sea of Japan, the South Korean Army Staff said.
And she stressed, “Our army remains on full alert,” and cooperates “in close cooperation with the United States,” and enhances “surveillance and precautionary” operations.
This new operation falls within the context of a record number of weapons tests conducted during the year, the most prominent of which was the launch of the most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile in November.
Tokyo, for its part, confirmed the launch of the two missiles, while Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno considered it "totally unacceptable."
And earlier in the week, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un said that the North has advanced techniques for taking aerial photos using a spy satellite.
The United States and South Korea have been warning for months that Pyongyang is preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test.
On Tuesday, the two countries organized joint air maneuvers with the deployment of the American B-52H strategic bomber in the Korean archipelago, according to a statement issued by the South Korean Army Staff.
This long-range heavy bomber was part of a training that included the latest American and South Korean fighters, including the F-22 and F-35.
According to experts, North Korea is very sensitive to the joint air maneuvers between the United States and South Korea, knowing that its air force suffers from many weaknesses and lacks particularly good aircraft and qualified pilots.
The latest missile launch in the North may be "in response to the maneuvers carried out earlier in the week between the United States and South Korea," according to Yang Mo-jin, a lecturer at the College of North Korean Studies.
Friday's operation also came a few hours after the White House announced that Pyongyang had delivered weapons to the Russian paramilitary group "Wagner".
In statements reported by North Korea's official news agency KCNA, the North Korean Foreign Ministry denied any arms deal with Russia, stressing that this story was "fabricated by deceitful forces."
However, the British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, stated that the UK's assessment was consistent with the US assessment that North Korea had sold weapons to the Wagner Group.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin's request for help from North Korea is a sign of Russia's desperation and isolation," he said.
"We will work with our partners to make North Korea pay a heavy price for its support of Russia's illegal war on Ukraine," he added.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that Washington would seek China's help in persuading North Korea to hold talks after its series of missile tests escalated tensions.
Blinken, who plans to visit Beijing in early 2023, will be the first by a US secretary of state in four years, said he will discuss with China how to "try to convince North Korea to take a different approach."
"We have said very clearly that we are open to diplomacy without any preconditions, and it remains the case," he said in a press conference.
We remain committed to the goal of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
"Today North Korea is not involved in that, but it remains a possibility, and I think China can play a role in helping push things in that direction."
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news