North Korea missile launches 'solemn warning' to South

In this photo provided on Friday by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) watches a missile test (left) in North Korea. Pic/AP

Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the launch of "a new type of tactical guided weapon" as a "solemn warning" to the South, state media said Friday, a day after the North fired two missiles into the sea.

Kim personally organised and guided the firing of the "state-of-the-art weaponry system" on Thursday and was "gratified" with the outcome, KCNA said.

It was Pyongyang's first missile test since an impromptu June meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea. That meeting produced an agreement to resume a working-level dialogue on denuclearisation with Washington but those talks have yet to begin.

The North has previously warned that upcoming US-South Korea joint military exercises could affect the resumption of the talks. There are close to 30,000 US troops stationed in South Korea and their annual manoeuvres with South Korean soldiers have always infuriated Pyongyang.

Kim accused the South of "double-dealing behaviour" by talking peace, but then "behind the scene, shipping ultra-modern offensive weapons and holding joint military exercises", KCNA said.

South Korea's leaders "should not make a mistake of ignoring the warning from Pyongyang", it added. The US said it wanted to continue talking with the North but called for a halt to such "provocations".

"We want to have diplomatic engagement with North Korea, and we continue to urge the North Koreans to resolve all the things that the president and Chairman Kim have talked about through diplomacy," US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.

"We urge no more provocations, and that all parties should abide by their obligations under (United Nations Security Council) resolutions," she said.

30k
No. of US troops stationed in South Korea

Trump downplays missile launches

US President Donald Trump has downplayed the launches by North Korea. In an interview to Fox News as cited by Sputnik News Agency, Trump pointed out that North Korea has not carried out "nuclear testing". "They really haven't tested missiles other than, you know, smaller ones, which is something that lots test. But I think with North Korea, we've been doing very well", he added.

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