North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern sea, South Korea's military said Tuesday, adding to a recent streak in weapons testing that is apparently in protest of the US sending major naval assets to South Korea in a show of force. In its third round of launches since last week, North Korea fired the missiles consecutively between around 11:55 p.m. local time Monday and midnight from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
They didn't immediately say how far the weapons travelled. Japan's Coast Guard said the missiles were already believed to have landed but still urged vessels in affected areas to watch out for falling debris.
The launches came hours after South Korea's navy said a nuclear-propelled US submarine — the USS Annapolis — arrived at a port on Jeju Island. That underscored the allies' efforts to boost the visibility of US strategic assets in the region to intimidate the North.
Last week too North had reacted over US naval vessels' entry
Last week, the USS Kentucky became the first US nuclear-armed submarine to come to South Korea since the 1980s. North Korea reacted to its arrival by test-firing ballistic and cruise missiles last week in apparent demonstrations that it could make nuclear strikes against South Korea and deployed US naval vessels. Also on Monday, the American-led UN Command said it has started “a conversation” with North Korea about a US soldier who ran into the North last week across one of the world's most heavily fortified borders.
Andrew Harrison, a British lieutenant general who is the deputy commander at the UN Command, refused to say when the conversation started and whether the North Koreans responded constructively, citing the sensitivity of the discussions.
He also declined to detail what the command knows about Pvt. Travis King's condition. “None of us know where this is going to end,” Harrison said during a news conference in Seoul. “I am in life an optimist, and I remain optimistic. But again, I will leave it at that.” It wasn't immediately clear whether Harrison's comments referred to meaningful progress after the command last week confirmed its initial outreach, saying it was “working with” its North Korean counterparts to resolve the incident.
The UN Command, which was created to fight the Korean War, has remained in South Korea to supervise the implementation of the 1953 armistice that stopped the fighting in the conflict.
Issue complexes further after Travis King case
The contact happened through “mechanisms” set up under the armistice, Harrison said. That could refer to the so-called pink phone, a telephone line between the command and the North Korean People's Army at the border truce village of Panmunjom, where King crossed.
The Koreas are still technically at war since a peace treaty was never signed. The US, which fought alongside the South Koreans and other allies during the war, never established diplomatic relations with the North, but the line is a common way they communicate. North Korea has remained publicly silent about King, who crossed the border during a tour of Panmunjom while he was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.
US officials have expressed concern about his well-being and said previously that North Korea ignored requests for information about him. Analysts say North Korea may wait weeks or even months to provide meaningful information about King to maximize leverage and add urgency to US efforts to secure his release. Some say North Korea may try to wrest concessions from Washington, such as tying his release to the United States and cutting back its military activities with South Korea.
(With inputs from agency)
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