North Korea fires short-range missile eastward into sea, South Korean military says

By Michelle Ye Hee Lee,

TOKYO — North Korea fired a short-range missile eastward into the sea Tuesday, according to South Korean military officials.

The missile was fired from an inland area toward the east around 6:40 a.m. local time, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The military said it was still analyzing the details of Tuesday’s weapons launch, the fourth test by North Korea this month, even as leaders in Pyongyang showed signs that they may be willing to resume negotiations with Seoul.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered a comprehensive analysis of North Korea’s latest statements and missile launches in response to Tuesday’s launch, the presidential Blue House said in a statement.

In recent days, North Korean officials had complained of “double standards” and “hostile policy” from the South, amid Seoul’s development of a submarine-launched ballistic missile and the latest round of joint U.S.-South Korea military drills.

Even as she blamed the South, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, spoke positively about the prospects of re-engaging in inter-Korean talks.

“I felt that the atmosphere of the South Korean public desiring to recover the inter-Korean relations from a deadlock and achieve peaceful stability as soon as possible is irresistibly strong,” she said in a Sept. 25 statement.

[Dueling ballistic missile tests on Korean Peninsula signal rising tensions]

In an emergency meeting, the standing committee of South Korea’s National Security Council said it regretted North Korea’s latest missile launch, which officials said came “at a time when political stability on the Korean Peninsula was very critical.”

Earlier this month, North Korea said it successfully test-fired a new long-range cruise missile on Sept. 11 and 12. On Sept. 15, Pyongyang launched two short-range ballistic missiles that landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, likely in violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The flurry of weapons activity also comes amid stalled nuclear talks with Washington. North Korea has rebuffed attempts by the Biden administration to communicate, instead demanding full sanctions relief.

Tuesday’s launch took place as North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations, Kim Song, addressed the U.N. General Assembly in New York and called for an end to the “U.S. hostile policy” toward his country.

In his statement at the United Nations, Kim denounced recent U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises and called on the administration to “remove the double standards towards the DPRK,” using the acronym for the formal name of his country, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“The successive U.S. administrations have repeatedly expressed their intentions, both in verbal and written forms, that they had no hostile intent towards the DPRK, advocating dialogue with us. But as can be seen in reality, all of those were nothing more than flowery words to cover up their hostile policy,” Kim said.

“The current U.S. administration should prove its policy stand that ‘they have no hostile intent towards the DPRK’ by practical actions instead of words,” he added.

[Dueling ballistic missile tests on Korean Peninsula signal rising tensions]

[North Korea says call to formally end Korean War is ‘premature’]

[North Korea says it has tested a new long-range cruise missile]