Lagatar24 Desk
Seoul, Oct.19: The South Korean and Japanese armies claimed North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Tuesday, continuing its recent string of weapons tests, only hours after the US renewed its offer to resume negotiations on the North’s nuclear weapons development.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea on Tuesday did not immediately say what type of ballistic missile it was or how far it flew.
The Japanese coast guard issued a maritime safety warning to ships, but it was unclear where the weapon had fallen.
Later in the day, South Korea’s presidential office planned to conduct a national security council meeting to discuss the launch.
North Korea resumed its weapons tests in September after a months-long hiatus, while making conditional peace proposals to Seoul, resuming a pattern of pressing South Korea to get what it wants from the US.
Sung Kim, President Joe Biden’s special envoy for North Korea, is scheduled to meet with US allies in Seoul in the coming days to discuss the possibility of restarting talks with North Korea.
Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been stuck for more than two years due to disputes on how to exchange the lifting of severe US-led sanctions on North Korea in exchange for the North’s disarmament efforts.
