From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
North Korea fires 2 projectiles after offering talks with US
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea launches two projectiles toward the sea, South Korea’s military says, hours after the North offered to resume nuclear diplomacy with the United States but warned its dealings with Washington may end without new US proposals.
The launches and demand for new proposals are apparently aimed at pressuring the United States to make concessions when the North Korea-US talks restart. North Korea is widely believed to want the United States to provide security guarantees and extensive relief from US-led sanctions in return for limited denuclearization steps.
The North Korean projectiles fired from its South Phyongan province, which surrounds its capital city of Pyongyang, fly about 330 kilometers (205 miles) across the country and in the direction of the waters off its east coast, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Ministry.
The military says South Korea will monitor possible additional launches. The JCS doesn’t immediately say whether the weapons are ballistic missiles or rocket artillery. “More detailed analysis is needed to determine the exact specifications,” JCS spokesman Kim Joon-rak says.
Tuesday’s launches are the eighth round of launches since late July and the first since August 24. The previous seven launches have revealed short-range missile and rocket artillery systems that experts say would potentially expand Pyongyang’s capabilities to strike targets throughout South Korea, including US military bases.
— AP
The Times of Israel Community.