North Korea on Thursday fired two projectiles that are “most likely” short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, a US official said.
A short-range ballistic missile launch would violate United Nations Security Council resolutions, slightly accelerating last weekend’s launch of two short-range cruise missiles, not banned by sanctions, according to a US official. .
South Korea’s military also said it detected the launch of two missiles on Thursday, but did not say which type.
Over the weekend, North Korea launched the first known two cruise missiles west into the Yellow Sea weapon test during the Biden administration.
Senior officials from the Biden administration called the weekend launch “normal” activity.
The launches come just after Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited the region on the first overseas trip led by the Biden government.
Blinken confirmed that the Biden government has been in contact with Pyongyang since mid-February, but has received no response. A senior government official said there had been “no active dialogue” with North Korea despite “multiple attempts” by the US to get in touch with them over the past year, during both the Biden and Trump administrations.
Senior officials said Tuesday that the government was in the final stages of a North Korean policy review and that the weekend’s launches did not close the door to dialogue between the two countries.
Eleanor Watson contributed to the reporting.