North Korea threatens to take 'new road' with latest launches

[webfact]

North Korea threatens to take 'new road' with latest launches

By Joyce Lee

 

FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

 

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, the SouthKorean military said, as Pyongyang's foreign ministry protested that joint U.S.-South Korea military drills violated diplomatic agreements.

 

The North, criticising the U.S.-South Korean drills and their use of high-tech weapons, has fired a series of missiles and rockets since its leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed at a June 30 meeting to revive stalled denuclearisation talks.

 

Trump has played down the tests by saying they did not break any agreement he had with Kim but the talks have yet to resume. Analysts believe the tests are designed both to improve North Korean military capabilities and to pressure Washington to offer more concessions.

 

A senior Trump administration official said: "We continue to monitor the situation and are consulting closely with our South Korean and Japanese allies."

In Seoul, South Korea's defence minister and the heads of the National Security Office and the National Intelligence Agency were meeting to discuss North Korea's firing of short-range projectiles, said Ko Min-jung, a spokeswoman for the presidential office.

 

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the latest projectiles, the fourth set of launches since July 25, were fired from South Hwanghae province early on Tuesday.

 

The Yonhap news agency in South Korea said the projectiles flew 450 km (280 miles) and reached an altitude of 37 km (23 miles).

 

The July 25 launches were the first since Trump and Kim met at the heavily armed Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas on June 30.

A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement released through state news agency KCNA that North Korea remains committed to resolving issues through dialogue.

 

However, Pyongyang "will be compelled to seek a new road as we have already indicated" if South Korea and the United States continue with hostile military moves, he said.

 

The arrival of new, U.S.-made F-35A stealth fighters in South Korea, the visit of a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine to a South Korean port, and U.S. tests of ballistic missiles are among the steps that have forced North Korea to continue its own weapons development, the spokesman said.

 

"The U.S. and South Korean authorities remain outwardly talkative about dialogue," he said. "But when they sit back, they sharpen a sword to do us harm."

North Korea has repeatedly complained that the United States and South Korea's joint military drills violate a pledge made by Trump to Kim.

 

South Korean media reported that U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises had started on Monday. A senior SouthKorean official said previously the drills would mainly involve computer simulations.

 

A JCS spokesman told a regular news briefing on Monday the allies were preparing for a joint exercise in the second half of the year but would not confirm the name of the exercise or whether it had already started.

 

A United Nations report said on Monday Pyongyang has "continued to enhance its nuclear and missile programmes" and used cyberattacks to take in $2 billion to fund the development.

 

The testing of short-range missiles by North Korea is covered by a 2006 United Nations Security Council resolution demanding that North Korea suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile programme.

 

Short-range missiles pose no threat to U.S. territory but do put at risk U.S. allies Japan and South Korea and the tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed in both countries.

 

Japan's defence ministry said it did not see any imminent threat to Japanese security from the latest projectile launch by North Korea.

 

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Josh Smith in SEOUL, Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON and Chris Gallagher in TOKYO; Editing by Sandra Maler and Paul Tait)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-06

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[Puchaiyank]

The N Koreans don't even go to the toilet without asking permission from China first...

 

China wants the US to "need" their assistance in controlling Korea's unruly country...trade negotiations don't you know!

[bristolboy]

12 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

The N Koreans don't even go to the toilet without asking permission from China first...

 

China wants the US to "need" their assistance in controlling Korea's unruly country...trade negotiations don't you know!

Well, that puts you in opposition to pretty much all the people who actually study North Korea. 

[from the home of CC]

Rocket man is feeling ignored and I expect this to increase till an acknowledgement by the U.S. leads NK into thinking that sanctions will be lifted. And of course this will not occur and it will finally dawn on Trump that they made a serious miscalculation in judgement and that you really can't reason with people who feed their relatives to dogs. 

[HLover]

1 minute ago, from the home of CC said:

really can't reason with people who feed their relatives to dogs. 

Yes, those who historically used Lions are much better.

[Puchaiyank]

42 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Well, that puts you in opposition to pretty much all the people who actually study North Korea. 

How many times have the N. Koreans met to talk with Trump that they did not go to China first?  Answer is none...they go there to be schooled on what to do and what to say.  The Chinese could put a stop to N. Korea's misbehaving in an instant if they wished to...

[bristolboy]

4 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

How many times have the N. Koreans met to talk with Trump that they did not go to China first?  Answer is none...they go there to be schooled on what to do and what to say.  The Chinese could put a stop to N. Korea's misbehaving in an instant if they wished to...

That's your idea of proof? It is to laugh.

[tandor]

4 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

Rocket man is feeling ignored and I expect this to increase till an acknowledgement by the U.S. leads NK into thinking that sanctions will be lifted. And of course this will not occur and it will finally dawn on Trump that they made a serious miscalculation in judgement and that you really can't reason with people who feed their relatives to dogs. 

...yes, sorry NK, we've been a bit pre-occupied with Iran lately, now what was it you were wanting?

[jany123]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

North Korea has repeatedly complained that the United States and South Korea's joint military drills violate a pledge made by Trump to Kim.

“On June 12, 2018, US President Donald Trump announced that the US would suspend the joint military exercises with South Korea.^[5] However, the joint military exercises resumed again on November 5, 2018, though at a small scale.^[6][“

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foal_Eagle

 

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump has played down the tests by saying they did not break any agreement he had with Kim

Trump may well play it down, but rather more significantly, it appears that North Korea is speaking truths, and that it’s the trump who is the one breaking commitments... but surely that can’t surprise anybody.

 

 

 

[IAMHERE]

Those North Koreans are bound and determined to make Scud Missiles even more terrifying than in the Mother of all Wars. Maybe even make those Scuds accurate to within a mile or so of the intended target.

[bristolboy]

10 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Those North Koreans are bound and determined to make Scud Missiles even more terrifying than in the Mother of all Wars. Maybe even make those Scuds accurate to within a mile or so of the intended target.

And you know that these are Scuds how? Can you cite a source to confirm that?

[sammieuk1]

Bored with Mr Kim until the short fat man fired into the sea headline comes in???? 

[baboon]

3 hours ago, bristolboy said:

And you know that these are Scuds how? Can you cite a source to confirm that?

Nodong and Taepodong missiles, actually. 

[baboon]

9 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

Rocket man is feeling ignored and I expect this to increase till an acknowledgement by the U.S. leads NK into thinking that sanctions will be lifted. And of course this will not occur and it will finally dawn on Trump that they made a serious miscalculation in judgement and that you really can't reason with people who feed their relatives to dogs. 

You do know that didn't actually happen? Sounds good and all that, but made up by a Chinese journalist.

[from the home of CC]

1 minute ago, baboon said:

You do know that didn't actually happen? Sounds good and all that, but made up by a Chinese journalist.

was that the dogs owner?

[White Christmas13]

9 hours ago, bristolboy said:

That's your idea of proof? It is to laugh.

well he is a trump supporter

[ballpoint]

9 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

you really can't reason with people who feed their relatives to dogs. 

Being Korea, it's highly more likely that they feed dogs to their relatives.