North Korea fired two missiles, says South's military

People watch a TV news screen showing file footage of a North Korean missile launch. Pic/AFP

Seoul: North Korea fired two projectiles on Thursday, the South's military said, with nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington at a deadlock. The weapons were launched from South Pyongan province in an easterly direction over the sea, Seoul's joint chiefs of staff said in a statement. "We are maintaining readiness and monitoring in case of additional launches," they added.

It is the latest in a series of launches by the North but the first since October 2, when it fired a sea-launched missile in a provocative move - a submarine-based missile capability would change the military balance.

The North then walked away from working-level nuclear talks with the US, saying it was disappointed at the lack of "new and creative" solutions offered by them. On Sunday, the North's state media carried a statement from Kim Yong Chol - previously North's counterpart to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - accusing US of seeking to "isolate and stifle the DPRK in a more vicious way than before".

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