North korea: North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea within hours of each other Sunday, ahead of a high-stakes summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping set for later this week. The missiles were detected about three hours apart - the first at around 3:00 p.m. and the second at roughly 5:50 p.m., both launched from the Wonsan area, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the first missile flew about 450 kilometers, while the second flew more than 600 km. The JCS mentioned that further analysis was under way to determine the exact specifications. South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities tracked and shared related details from the initial stage of the launch, and shared information on the missile launch with Japan as well.
"We are closely monitoring North Korea's various activities and maintain the capability and readiness to overwhelmingly respond to any provocations, under the staunch South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture," the JCS added.
The latest missile launches came ahead of the upcoming Trump-Xi summit, expected to take place in Washington this Thursday (local time). Trump has repeatedly expressed a willingness to reengage with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, possibly later this year, while it remains unclear how far Beijing would go to push its Cold War-era ally to return to dialogue.
A focal point of the summit is whether the two leaders will reaffirm their commitment to the North's denuclearization, a goal Pyongyang has resisted as it continues its nuclear and weapons development, claiming it as a right to defend against U.S. aggression. Sunday's missile launches are seen as the North's attempt to send a message to the Trump administration that it has no intention of backing down on its continued military buildup.