North Korea's two launches of short-range missiles in just five days — part of what it said were military drills designed to bolster the nuclear-armed country's "various long-range strike means" — will heap more pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump amid stalled nuclear talks.
The launches Thursday, which the South Korean military acknowledged were short-range missiles that flew 420 km (260 miles) and 270 km (167 miles), respectively, on an apogee of 45 to 50 km, would violate United Nations sanctions resolutions banning the use of ballistic missile technology by the North.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Friday that leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the exercises of military units in the country's west and "learned about a plan of the strike drill of various long-range strike means."