North Korea test-fired sea-to-surface cruise missiles off its western coast, state media said Wednesday, only hours before U.S. President Donald Trump was set to arrive in South Korea. According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the vertically-launched missiles were fired from the Yellow Sea on Tuesday and remained airborne for over two hours. The launch was supervised by senior military official Pak Jong Chon, who said the country was achieving \u201csignificant progress\u201d in strengthening its nuclear capabilities as a deterrent to adversaries. Pak said the purpose of the test was to verify \u201cthe reliability of various strategic offensive systems and demonstrate our capabilities to the enemies.\u201d He added that it was the military\u2019s \u201cduty to continuously reinforce our nuclear combat readiness.\u201d Notably, leader Kim Jong Un did not attend the launch, even though he is usually present for major weapons tests. Trump, who has expressed willingness to meet Kim during his trip his first to the Korean Peninsula in his second term\u2014has said he would \u201clove to talk\u201d if conditions allow. Kim, however, has said discussions may only resume if Washington abandons what Pyongyang calls its \u201cunrealistic\u201d demand for the North to renounce its nuclear arsenal. \u201cThis launch highlights Pyongyang\u2019s stance on maintaining its nuclear deterrent ahead of Trump\u2019s arrival, showing once again that denuclearization is not up for negotiation,\u201d said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, speaking to AFP. The two leaders last met in 2019 at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which has divided North and South Korea for decades. North Korea has yet to respond publicly to the invitation. Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, told AFP that Kim’s absence was revealing. “This is not an overt attempt to embarrass Trump,” he said. Kim was also not mentioned by KCNA in reporting of last week’s test launch of several hypersonic missiles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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