North Korea fires projectiles twice into sea, says South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea on Tuesday continued to ramp up its weapons demonstrations by firing unidentified projectiles twice into the sea while lashing out at the United States and South Korea for continuing their joint military exercises that the North says could derail fragile nuclear diplomacy.

FILE – In this Aug. 2, 2019, file photo, people stand by a TV screen showing a file footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. North Korea on Tuesday, Aug. 6, continued to ramp up its weapons demonstrations by firing unidentified projectiles twice into the sea while lashing out at the United States and South Korea for continuing their joint military exercises that the North says could derail fragile nuclear diplomacy. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

South Korea’s military alerted reporters of the launches minutes before an unidentified spokesperson of the North’s Foreign Ministry released a statement denouncing Washington and Seoul over the start of their joint exercises on Monday. The statement said the drills, which North Korea sees as an invasion rehearsal, leave the country “compelled to develop, test and deploy the powerful physical means essential for national defense.”

The North’s spokesperson said Pyongyang remains committed to dialogue, but it could seek a “new road” if the allies don’t change their positions.

“It is too axiomatic that a constructive dialogue cannot be expected at a time when a simulated war practice targeted at the dialogue partner is being conducted,” the spokesperson said in a statement released by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency. “We remain unchanged in our stand to resolve the issues through dialogue. But the dynamics of dialogue will be more invisible as long as the hostile military moves continue.”

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles were launched early Tuesday from an area near the North’s western coast and flew cross-country before landing in waters off the country’s eastern coast.

It didn’t immediately say how many projectiles were fired or how far they flew.

South Korea’s government had no immediate statement on the North’s launches, which were its fourth round of weapons tests in less than two weeks. The office of South Korean President Moon Jae-in said his chief national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, will hold an emergency meeting with the country’s defense minister and spy chief on Tuesday to discuss the launches.

North Korea had said it will wait to see if the August exercises actually take place to decide on the fate of its diplomacy with the United States and whether to continue its unilateral suspension of nuclear and long-range missile tests, which leader Kim Jong Un announced last year amid a diplomatic outreach to Washington.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Monday didn’t initially confirm the start of the joint military exercises before Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo told a parliamentary hearing that the drills had begun. Jeong did not provide specific details about the drills, which were expected to be computer simulated and not involve actual combat troops and equipment.

The North last week conducted two test-firings of what it described as a new rocket artillery system and carried out a short-range ballistic missile launch on July 25, which it described as a “solemn warning” to South Korea over its plans to continue military drills with the United States. Experts say the North’s weapons display could intensify in the coming months if progress isn’t made on the nuclear talks.

The North’s launches came a day after Moon made a nationalistic call for economic cooperation between the Koreas while denouncing Japan’s imposition of trade curbs on the South amid an escalating diplomatic row. /gsg