North Korea conducted its second missile test in less than a week on Thursday, prompting President Donald Trump to express doubt about nuclear talks with the communist state.
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea conducted its second missile test in less than a week on Thursday, prompting President Donald Trump to express rare doubt about nuclear talks with the communist state.
The North fired two short-range missiles across the country from a northwestern area, five days after it sent another missile into the sea off its east coast.
“We’re looking at it very seriously right now,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Nobody’s happy about it, but we’re taking a good look and we’ll see, we’ll see.”
“The relationship continues, but we’ll see what happens,” he added. “I know they want to negotiate. They’re talking about negotiating, but I don’t think they’re ready to negotiate.”
The move came as the main U. S. envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, was visiting Seoul in an effort to get stalled diplomatic efforts with the North back on track.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, speaking hours later in a television interview, said his government and its ally the United States believe that short-range missiles had been fired, based on their flight distance.
However, he said it was too early to determine whether they had violated U. N. Security Council resolutions, which prohibit the North from using ballistic technology.
“I want to tell North Korea once again that it’s not ideal to repeat actions that… risk throwing cold water on the atmosphere of dialogue and negotiations,” Moon said in an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS.
Thursday’s launch was especially bittersweet for Moon as it occurred on the eve of the second anniversary of his presidential inauguration.
The son of North Korean refugees, Moon campaigned on a promise to pursue engagement with the North but he has been limited by sanctions.
Breaking the lull
The latest launches broke an 18-month lull, although they technically didn’t violate the North’s self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests to facilitate talks.
“North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles presumed to be short-range missiles” in an eastern direction from the northwestern area of Kusong, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
