North Korea Threatens More Weapon Launches After 4th Test in 12 Days

Seoul: North Korea threatened on Tuesday to carry out more weapons tests after it fired its fourth set of projectiles in less than two weeks following the start of joint exercises between the US and the South.

The rising temperature on the peninsula threatens to derail putative negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington, with the North saying the combined drills were a "flagrant violation" of the process.

Pyongyang has always been infuriated by military exercises between the South and US, seeing them as rehearsals for invasion, but in the past it has tended to avoid carrying out missile tests while the war games were taking place.

The speed of its statement Tuesday was also unusual, coming within an hour of it carrying out its launch, rather than its usual practice of a day later.

The North fired "two projectiles that are assumed to be short-range ballistic missiles" from South Hwanghae province on its west coast, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

They flew around 450 kilometres across the peninsula and into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, reaching an altitude of 37 kilometres and a speed of "at least Mach 6.9", they said.

That puts them around the middle of the range of the projectiles that have been fired by the North four times in the past 12 days.

Seoul has described most of them as short-range ballistic missiles -- the North is banned from ballistic missile launches under UN Security Council resolutions -- while Pyongyang has said some were a "large-calibre multiple-launch guided rocket system".

The latest launch came after the South Korean and US militaries began mainly computer-simulated joint exercises on Monday to test Seoul's ability to take operational control in wartime.

Less than an hour after the North's weapons test, an official of its foreign ministry said the drills were "an undisguised denial and a flagrant violation" of the diplomatic process between Pyongyang, Washington and Seoul.

Jeong Young-tae, director of the Institute of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said that the North's weapons tests during the drills were a "bold move" that "may indicate that it is now much more confident in its military capabilities than it used to be".

"The North is now showing -- in a very blunt manner -- that it will take countervailing measures if the US and South Korea continue with these joint annual drills," he told AFP.

After a year of mutual threats and mounting tension, US President Donald Trump and the North's Kim Jong Un held a historic summit in Singapore last year, where both leaders signed a vague pledge to work towards "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".

A second summit in Hanoi in February broke up amid disagreements over sanctions relief and concessions from the North.

Trump and Kim agreed to resume nuclear talks during an impromptu June meeting in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula, but that working-level dialogue has yet to begin.

Analysts say the military manoeuvres on both sides could see discussions pushed back until the autumn, and Pyongyang signalled Tuesday that it was in no mood to talk.

"A constructive dialogue cannot be expected at a time when a simulated war practice targeted at the dialogue partner is being conducted," said the foreign ministry spokesperson.         

China Warning if US Deploys Missiles in Asia

Beijing: China said on Tuesday it "will not stand idly by" and will take countermeasures if the US deploys intermediate-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region, which it plans to do within months, AP reported.

Russia says it plans to deploy such missiles if the US does, as the expiration of a Cold War treaty raised the possibility of an arms race.

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said during security meetings in Asia over the weekend that he wanted to deploy mid-range conventional missiles in the Asia-Pacific within months.

They would have been banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by Russia and the US in 1987. It expired Friday, with Washington saying it withdrew because of Russia's alleged violations of the pact. Russia denies breaching the terms.

China's chief arms control official Fu Cong in his remarks Tuesday warned neighboring countries not to allow the U.S. to deploy intermediate-range missiles on their territory.

Australia previously said the locations for the bases were not yet known but it would not be one of them.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia would only deploy new intermediate-range missiles if the US does and called for urgent arms control talks to prevent a chaotic arms race.

Fu said China had no intention of entering a trilateral arms control deal with the U S. and Russia but would remain engaged in multilateral discussions on disarmament.