North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the waters off its east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message.
(Bloomberg) — North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the waters off its east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message.
The launch came ahead of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953. North Korea has invited Li Hongzhong, a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo, to visit Pyongyang for the occasion, the official KCNA news agency said.
The latest launch, like the firing of cruise missiles on Saturday, also came after North Korea threatened to use nuclear arms over the arrival of a US nuclear-capable submarine in South Korea.
North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam said last week that the dispatch of the USS Kentucky puts Pyongyang within its rights to use a nuclear weapon. At the Pentagon, spokeswoman Sabrina Singh slammed North Korea for the threat, calling it “dangerous,” and saying that the port call was a sign of long-standing cooperation with South Korea.
Separately, Washington is seeking the release of a US soldier who crossed into North Korea on foot last Tuesday. The United Nations Command has started talks with North Korea’s military on the status of Private Second Class Travis King, 23, according to Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison, deputy commander of the joint command.
Read more: UN-North Korea Talks Begin on US Soldier Who Crossed Border
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