North Korea Commemorates Failed Summit With Trump by Launching Rockets

North Korea fired two rockets last night from the eastern port city of Wonsan. The projectiles landed in the sea. This is the first test in three months.

 

This is reported by the South Korean army, which noted the tests. The short-range missiles would have covered a distance of around 240 kilometres. That is basically enough to shoot from Wonsan just over the border with South Korea. The rockets are said to have reached a maximum height of 35 kilometres.

This puts an end to a three-month period in which no rocket tests were conducted. The last known rocket test dates from November 28. After that, the country said it had successfully experimented with the launch of satellites.

According to South Korean observers, the timing is no coincidence. The manoeuvre comes exactly one year after the talks on nuclear disarmament between North Korean President Kim Jong-un and his American colleague Donald Trump in Vietnam failed.

Choi Soon-mi, an expert at the University of Ajou, tells the Bloomberg news agency that North Korea is using that birthday to send a signal to Washington or Seoul. “They want their requirements to be taken into account. For example, they want a weakening of international sanctions. “

The South Korean government met on the matter in an emergency session. “These actions do not help attempt to alleviate tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” said a spokesperson for South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

South Korea was supposed to carry out military exercises together with the US, but due to the coronavirus outbreak, those plans were discontinued indefinitely.

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