© Antinuclear/'Lush'
Just hours after President Trump expressed optimism about future nuclear talks, citing another letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Fox News reports that a
US official confirms North Korea fired off multiple short-range missiles.
Kim has sent Mr. Trump a number of letters and the two have projected a warm personal relationship. But talks have remained stalled, and North Korea
continues to conduct missile tests, which Mr. Trump has played down.
"I think we'll have another meeting," Mr. Trump told reporters.
"He really wrote a beautiful, three-page - I mean, right from top to bottom - a really beautiful letter."
But, that patience may well be tested tonight as
Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson reports that,
for the fifth time in two weeks, North Korea has tested an increasingly sophisticated, hard-to-track missile system that could wipe out South Korean and Japanese cities -- not to mention U.S. forces based in both countries.
"U.S. official confirms North Korea fired off multiple short-range missiles. It's not immediately clear how many missiles were fired from North Korea's east coast into Sea of Japan (East Sea). 5th missile test by North Korean forces in past two weeks."
As Bloomberg reports, the president and his team contend that diplomacy with North Korea remains on track, thanks in part to his personal rapport with Kim,
claiming that the North Korean leader has kept his word by holding off from testing a nuclear weapon or launching longer-range missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
National Security Advisor John Bolton said this week:
"The president's watching this very, very carefully."
Comment: More from
RFE/RL 10/8/2019: Trump says Kim wants to meet again
U.S. President Donald Trump has said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants to meet once again to "start negotiations" after joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises end. Trump tweeted on August 10 that Kim made these statements in a letter to him and that he looked "forward to seeing Kim Jong Un in the not too distant future!"
Trump said that Kim offered him "a small apology" for the flurry of recent short-range missile tests that have rattled U.S. allies in the region and that Kim assured him they would stop when the exercises end.
Also on August 10, an EU spokesperson accused Pyongyang of undermining efforts to denuclearize and bring lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula and urged Kim to return to talks.
South Korean defense officials described the dawn launches on August 10 as two short-range ballistic missiles that flew 400 kilometers before plummeting into the sea.
"With the launching of two short-range ballistic missiles today, a fifth such test in recent weeks, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) continues to undermine international work for building trust and establishing lasting peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, free of nuclear weapons. We expect the DPRK to refrain from any further provocations, abide by its stated commitments, and fully implement its international obligations as determined by multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions."
It called for more talks and urged "concrete and credible" moves from Pyongyang toward denuclearization and the abandonment of its ballistic-missile program.
And this from
Reuters 10/8/2019: Kim oversees test of 'new weapon'
© KCNANK leader Kim Jong-un guides the test firing of a new weapon, photo released 8/11/2019.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected Saturday's test of a new weapon, state media KCNA said on Sunday, as a senior diplomat dismissed the possibility of inter-Korean talks in protest against South Korea-U.S. military drills. North Korea calls such exercises a "rehearsal for war" and has countered them with its own military action.
The new "projectiles" were developed to suit the country's terrain, and the latest test proved their "advantageous and powerful demand of the design was perfectly met," KCNA said.
Missile experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California said photos released by KCNA appear to show a new type of short-range ballistic missile, though detailed analysis is necessary.
"Given that the military exercise clearly puts us as an enemy in its concept," said Kwon Jong Gun, director-general for American affairs at the foreign ministry. "They should think that an inter-Korean contact itself will be difficult to be made unless they put an end to such a military exercise or before they make a plausible excuse or an explanation in a sincere manner."
Kwon said South Korea talked "nonsense" by urging the North to stop missile tests which served its right to self-defense. "Even the U.S. president made a remark which in effect recognizes the self-defensive rights of a sovereign state, saying that it is a small missile test which a lot of countries do," Kwon said.
See also:
Talks ahead? Trump's "beautiful" letter from Kim excusing missile tests, says drills with South are 'expensive and provocative'
Comment: More from RFE/RL 10/8/2019: Trump says Kim wants to meet again And this from Reuters 10/8/2019: Kim oversees test of 'new weapon'