North Korea fires two more projectiles into sea

North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles into the East Sea on Saturday local time, South Korea’s military announced, the seventh such launch in less than a month. 

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff told Yonhap News Agency that the projectiles were launched from the eastern province of South Hamgyong on Saturday morning.

{mosads}”Our military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture,” it said.

United States Forces Korea (USFK), a sub-unified command of United States Indo-Pacific Command, did not immediately respond to request for comment from The Hill.

The latest launch comes after Pyongyang fired a series of projectiles in the past month, which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called a “warning” against joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea.

President Trump has appeared unbothered by the recent launches, calling Kim a “friend” and adding that his personal relationship with the North Korean leader could prevent further escalations. 

“Chariman [sic] Kim has a great and beautiful vision for his country, and only the United States, with me as President, can make that vision come true,” Trump tweeted. “He will do the right thing because he is far too smart not to, and he does not want to disappoint his friend, President Trump!”

….Chariman Kim has a great and beautiful vision for his country, and only the United States, with me as President, can make that vision come true. He will do the right thing because he is far too smart not to, and he does not want to disappoint his friend, President Trump!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2019

The president later this month said he had received a letter from Kim saying he would like to meet again and even apologizing for the recent launches. 

….also a small apology for testing the short range missiles, and that this testing would stop when the exercises end. I look forward to seeing Kim Jong Un in the not too distant future! A nuclear free North Korea will lead to one of the most successful countries in the world!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2019

Trump and Kim have held two official nuclear summits that have thus far yielded little progress. The last one, which took place in Vietnam in February, ended early without an agreement. 

However, a senior South Korean official told reporters Thursday that the U.S. and North Korea are expected to resume negotiations on Pyongyang’s nuclear program “soon.”