North Korea fires two short-range missiles, South says

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North Korea has fired two short-range missiles in its second weapons test in less than a week, the South Korean military says.

 

The missiles fired from the Sino-ri base in the north-west of the country travelled 420km (260 miles) and 270km.

 

The tests come as a top US envoy is in South Korea for talks on how to break the deadlock over nuclear negotiations.

 

Analysts say the North is trying to increase pressure on the US over its failure to make concessions.

 

A meeting in Vietnam between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump ended without agreement in February. Mr Trump walked away from what he described as a bad deal offered by Mr Kim.

 

The two missiles were fired towards the east at about 16:30 local time (07:30 GMT), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

 

Detailed analysis was being carried out in co-operation with US intelligence officials, it added. There were no details of where the missiles landed.

 

Located some 75km from the capital, Pyongyang, the Sino-ri base is one of North Korea’s longest-running missile facilities, according to the Washington-based think-tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.

 

On Saturday, the North tested several short-range missiles from the eastern Hodo peninsula, according to South Korea.

 

The missile launch, the first since Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017, came after the country tested what it described as a new “tactical guided weapon” last month.