North Korea fired at least one unidentified projectile toward its eastern coast on Saturday, the South Korean military said, a day after the South concluded trilateral military drills with the U.S. and Japan. The South Korean military said it was analyzing the firing, the Yonhap news agency reported. Japan’s Defense Ministry did not immediately release any information on the launch, suggesting it may have been of a shorter-range weapon.
Nuclear-armed North Korea labeled the Freedom Edge maritime drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan a “threat” and claimed that Washington “is perpetrating air espionage and other anti-DPRK military provocations one after another.” DRPK is the acronym for North Korea’s formal name. Last month, Pyongyang fired off a barrage of around 10 short-range ballistic missiles, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year.
But North Korea has poured cold water on the idea of talks, with Pyongyang saying that the Trump administration has “fully reconfirmed its invariable hostile policy to wantonly violate the sovereignty, political system and security interests of the DPRK.” Experts say Trump will face an uphill battle in rekindling his relationship with Kim. The North Korean has also hinted at an openness to talks — but only on his terms: recognizing his country as a nuclear power and ending what Pyongyang says is a “hostile” U.S. policy toward the pariah state.
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