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North Korea launches short-range missile, South Korea says

North Korea fired at least one short-range missile toward the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korea said, the country’s first major weapons test since November 2017.

FILE - In this April 24, 2019, file photo released by the Press office of the administration of Primorsky Krai region, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un talks with Russian officials upon his arrival at the border station of Khasan, Primorsky Krai region, Russia. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff says North Korea has fired an unidentified short-range missile from its eastern coast. The firing Saturday, May 4, comes amid a diplomatic breakdown that has followed the failed summit earlier this year between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over the North's pursuit of a nuclear arsenal that can target the U.S. mainland.
FILE - In this April 24, 2019, file photo released by the Press office of the administration of Primorsky Krai region, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un talks with Russian officials upon his arrival at the border station of Khasan, Primorsky Krai region, Russia. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff says North Korea has fired an unidentified short-range missile from its eastern coast. The firing Saturday, May 4, comes amid a diplomatic breakdown that has followed the failed summit earlier this year between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over the North's pursuit of a nuclear arsenal that can target the U.S. mainland.Read moreAlexander Safronov / AP
    by Jihye Lee, Bloomberg
    Published 

(Bloomberg) — North Korea fired at least one short-range missile toward the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korea said, the country’s first major weapons test since November 2017.

The test occurred around 9:06 a.m. local time from North Korea’s eastern port of Wonsan, according to South Korea’s defense ministry. The weapon was fired toward the East Sea, the ministry said, describing the water body also known as the Sea of Japan.

The test involved “numerous” missiles traveling 70-200 kilometers (45-125 miles), the Yonhap News Agency said, citing South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

It was the first major weapons test since November 2017, when Kim Jong Un successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile believed capable of reaching the entire U.S. Kim’s subsequent pledge to halt tests of nuclear-capable weapons has underpinned his negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump.

While a short-range missile wouldn’t necessarily violate that pledge, it signals Kim’s frustration with talks since Trump’s decision to walk away from the last summit in Hanoi in February. Top U.S. nuclear enjoy Stephen Biegun is slated to visit Japan and South Korea next week.

“This is an expected move from North Korea — not too provoking, but urging the U.S. to take a slightly stronger stance than their initial one,” said Kim Hyun-wook, of the Korean National Diplomatic Academy. “This seems like a message for Stephen Biegun’s planned trip to the peninsula.”

Last month, Kim also personally oversaw the test-firing of a “new-type tactical guided weapon.” That test was the first announced by North Korea since Kim’s February summit with Trump ended abruptly ended without a deal.

Last week, he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, and accused the U.S. of “bad faith” in nuclear talks.

Saturday’s launch took place on Wonsan’s Hodo Peninsula, home to a live-fire training site for artillery exercises, according to a description by 38 North.

With assistance from Justin Sink and John Harney.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jihye Lee in Hong Kong at jlee2352@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net;Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net