Missile for peace talks with North Korea | Kim …

Pyongyang yesterday released images of missiles launched a day earlier that seem to accredit further dangerous advances in the North Korean weapons program, while Seoul and Washington have chosen to continue to moderate the tone so as not to spoil the dialogue. .

North Korea has said it has tested a long-range weapon, an announcement that is likely to increase tensions on the peninsula and contradict claims by the South and the United States that it was short-range missiles. The North Korean news agency KCNA announced that Kim Jong Un had overseen the weapons test Thursday, the second in less than a week and in a tense situation with the United States because of the difficulties in reaching to an agreement with Pyongyang and abandon his arsenal. nuclear power in exchange for easing sanctions.

"At the command post, Supreme Chief Kim Jong Un was informed of a test plan of various means of long-range attack and gave the order to execute exercise, "reported KCNA, baduring that the test was a success. The agency did not specify the type of weapon that had been fired and avoided using the words "missile", "rocket" or "projectile".

This new information adds to the growing tension with the United States, where President Donald Trump felt Thursday that Kim was not ready to negotiate a denuclearization. From the White House, Trump said he was watching the launch of the missile "very seriously." "It was smaller missiles, short-range missiles, nobody is happy about that," the president told reporters. "The relationship continues, but we will see what happens," he said.

At the historic Trump summit in June 2018 in Singapore, the North Korean leader pledged to "work for the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula". But negotiations got bogged down after the failure of a second meeting between the two men last February in Hanoi. Then Kim unsuccessfully asked that the sanctions imposed on his country be lifted, in exchange for a denuclearization deemed too timid by the US president.

North Korea "fired what could be two short-range missiles" from Kusong, in North Pyongan province, the South Korean military chief said Thursday in a statement. He added that the missiles, which had traveled 270 and 420 kilometers, respectively, had been badyzed by the South Korean army and its American allies.

The yesterday edition of Rodong Sinmun, the official organ of the ruling party in Pyongyang, devoted all its cover and part of the second page to the launch of the day before, illustrated with 16 photos, including one from Kim watching the shot.

Thursday's launch also comes days after North Korea conducted a military exercise and launched several projectiles on Saturday, including a short-range missile, experts say.

Officially, North Korea has not fired any missiles since November 2017, shortly before the reduction in tension that led to the historic summit of Kim and Trump. He then tested an intercontinental missile capable, according to Pyongyang, of reaching US territory.

Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said yesterday that Tokyo had "reached the conclusion" that the latest launches were short-range ballistic missiles. "The launch of ballistic missiles is a flagrant violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions," he told reporters.

Thursday 's launches took place just hours after the arrival of Stephen Biegun, US special envoy for North Korea, to Seoul to meet with representatives of South Korea on Thursday. approach to adopt during nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Pyongyang was "very upset" by the fact that the Vietnamese summit ended without agreement and that its last position included a "protest element" and "pressure for Reorient nuclear negotiations in the direction you want. "

But he said: "Whatever the intentions of North Korea, we warned that this could make negotiations more difficult." South Korea and the United States are collaborating on the negotiation strategy with Pyongyang.

With Thursday's shooting, "North Korea sends a clear message that it will not be satisfied with the humanitarian aid" in Seoul, according to Hong Min, a researcher at the Korean Institute for the 39, national unification, managed by the state. Pyongyang "says," We want security guarantees in exchange for a denuclearization process, "he added.

Earlier last week, Pyongyang warned the US against an "undesirable result" if they did not settle their position by the end of the year, after three months of paralysis in the negotiations on North Korea's ballistic and nuclear program.

The United States insists that sanctions will only be lifted once North Korea has completely eliminated its weapons programs. In addition, US authorities have announced in New York the seizure of the North Korean cargo ship "Wise Honest" – of a mbad of 17,000 tons – for violation of international sanctions imposed by the export of coal and coal. Machinery import.