North Korea fires two missiles into East Sea

North Korea fires two missiles into East Sea

Seoul: Army Maj. Gen. Jeon Dong-jin, deputy director of operations of South Korea

Seoul, Nov 28 (IANS) North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles into the East Sea on Thursday, said South Korea's military, in an apparent move to pressure the United States amid stalled talks on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

The missiles were fired from Yeonpo in eastern South Hamgyong province around 4.59 p.m. (local time), South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, Efe news reported.

South Korean defence ministry officials told EFE that the projectiles launched seemed to be ballistic missiles that fell into the Sea of Japan (called the East Sea in the two Koreas) outside the waters declared as the Exclusive Economic Zone of Japan.

North Korea's last missile test was conducted on October 31, when the regime tested a large rocket launcher, a manoeuvre aimed at forcing the US to accept new conditions for resuming denuclearisation talks that have been stuck since February.

There has been no progress in bilateral talks since the failed summit in February in Hanoi, where Washington considered Pyongyang's offer to dismantle its nuclear assets insufficient and refused to lift economic sanctions.

Both sides held a working-level meeting at Stockholm in October, but it ended with North Korea accusing Washington of offering nothing new and holding onto its "hostile policy".

Pyongyang has said the White House has until the year-end to consider its proposals. Experts believe the regime could conduct new intermediate-range ballistic-missile weapons tests from January if no progress is made.

--IANS

rt/pcj