Politics

North Korea fires two cruise missiles towards Yellow Sea

Seoul, Aug 17 (EFE).- North Korea fired two cruise missiles towards the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, a South Korean military official said according to local news agency Yonhap.

This is the first launch of cruise missiles by North Korea since January.

They were fired from Onchon in South Pyongan province, and South Korean and the United States intelligence agencies were analyzing the new test, according to the official, who did not give any more details.

The missile tests come just two days after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol offered economic assistance to North Korea should it choose to denuclearize.

In a few days, the US and South Korea are scheduled to resume large-scale military drills that they had put on hold to improve diplomacy with the North, a process that broke down after the failure of the denuclearization summit in Hanoi in early 2019.

The firing of cruise missiles does not violate United Nations Security Council resolutions, which focus on the regime’s ballistic missiles and nuclear tests.

North Korea cut itself off from the outside world at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and has carried out a record number of missile tests this year after approving a weapons modernization plan last year.

The regime has rejected medical aid and offers of dialogue from Washington and Seoul – which are in turn responding with “extended deterrence” – and has allegedly already completed preparations for its first nuclear test in five years. EFE

asb/pd/tw

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