North Korea yesterday fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military said, a week before a key Asia-Pacific leaders’ meeting in South Korea.
It was the first launch of ballistic missiles since May by Pyongyang, which has defied a UN Security Council ban on the weapons.
It was also the first such launch since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung was elected, with a platform of engagement with North Korea.
Photo: Reuters
Lee and US President Donald Trump are expected to meet in South Korea next week at an APEC summit. Trump is also expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
South Korea detected several projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles fired from an area near North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, in a northeasterly direction early yesterday, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
Lee and Trump have discussed the idea of trying to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un when the US president visits the South, but Pyongyang has not publicly responded to the idea.
US officials considered, but never confirmed, a trip to the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, a person familiar with the discussions said.
South Korea has suspended tours of the Joint Security Area at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom until early next month, but has not confirmed any plans for a meeting with Kim.
Trump and Kim held three summits during Trump’s 2017 to 2021 term and exchanged a number of letters that Trump called “beautiful,” before the unprecedented diplomatic effort broke down over US demands that Kim give up his nuclear weapons.
Kim last month expressed “fond memories” of Trump, saying there was no reason to avoid talks with the US if Washington stopped insisting his country give up nuclear weapons, but he would never abandon the nuclear arsenal to end sanctions.
“It is not at all inconceivable that Donald Trump could here in Washington, D.C., say: ‘Denuclearization, that’s our goal, that’s our policy’ and then go up to Panmunjom and say: ‘Oh, you know, Kim Jong-un is a nuclear power,’” Center for Strategic and International Studies Korea chair Victor Cha said.
“Even if it’s a short meeting, in the broader scheme of things, with all that the United States has to deal with these days, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing,” he said.
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