North Korea continues missile tests

One day after announcing upcoming nuclear talks with the United States, North Korea fired a ballistic missile from the sea into Japan’s exclusive offshore economic zone on Wednesday. A North Korean missile has not come that close to Japan since November 2017. South Korean military officials suggested but did not confirm North Korea launched the missile from a submarine.

What does the test mean? North Korea likely is trying to flaunt its military capability ahead of negotiations with the United States this weekend. The country had started work on submarine-launched ballistic missiles before denuclearization talks kicked off with the United States last year. The U.S. State Department urged North Korea to “refrain from provocations” and remain committed to ending its nuclear weapons program.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about on how the most recent round of denuclearization talks ended in February.

UPDATE: North Korea confirmed on Thursday it launched the Pukguksong-3 ballistic missile from a submarine.