North Korea Greets Trump by Testing New Missile
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency via Mehr News Agency, Pyongyang announced on Wednesday that it had tested and launched strategic land-to-sea cruise missiles in the yellow Sea. This provocative move occurred ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to South Korea.
The North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the test took place on Monday under the supervision of Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the ruling party’s Central Military Commission, and was conducted by North Korea’s missile bureau.
Pak stated, “we are achieving notable progress in operationalizing nuclear capabilities based on the Central Committee’s strategic plan to continuously expand the scope of war deterrents.”
KCNA further explained that thes ship-launched cruise missiles were fired vertically and flew over a predetermined course above the Yellow Sea for more than 7,800 seconds-approximately two hours and ten minutes-before hitting their targets.
The missile test coincided with Trump’s scheduled visit to South Korea on October 29-30 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, during which he expressed willingness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
