By Canadian Press

N. Korea test-fires missiles again after joint drills end

Aug 23, 2019 | 6:21 PM

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Saturday for the seventh time in a month, South Korea’s military said, a day after it threatened to remain America’s biggest threat in protest of U.S.-led sanctions on the country.

The North had been expected to halt weapons tests because the 10-day U.S.-South Korean drills, which it views as an invasion rehearsal, ended earlier this week.

Saturday’s launches were made from northeastern South Hamgyong province, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. They flew about 380 kilometres (236 miles) at the maximum altitude of 97 kilometres (60 miles), the military said.

The Japanese government said the missiles caused no damage and did not land in its territorial waters.

South Korea’s National Security Council expressed strong concern about the launches and urged North Korea to stop acts that raise military tensions. Council members said South Korea will launch diplomatic efforts to make North Korea return to nuclear talks with the United States, according to the president’s office.

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North Korea’s foreign minister said Friday his country will try to remain “America’s biggest threat” if the United States continues to confront it with sanctions. Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho also called U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a “poisonous plant of American diplomacy” and vowed to “shutter the absurd dream” that sanctions will force a change in Pyongyang.

Ri’s blistering rhetoric and the missile launches may dim the prospect for an early resumption of nuclear negotiations between the countries. The top U.S. envoy on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, said Wednesday that Washington was ready to restart the talks.

North Korea’s latest rhetoric over the U.S.-South Korean military drills had focused on South Korea, not the United States. The North Korean weapons tested during the drills have been mostly short-range missiles and rockets. Some of the weapons revealed developments of a new rocket artillery system and two different short-range mobile ballistic missile systems that experts say would expand its ability to strike targets throughout South Korea.

U.S.-led diplomacy to rid North Korea of nuclear weapons collapsed after President Donald Trump rejected North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s demand for widespread sanctions relief in return for partial disarmament steps during their second summit in Vietnam in February. Trump and Kim met again at the Korean border in late June and agreed to resume the talks.

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Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Hyung-Jin Kim, The Associated Press