North Korea has fired an alleged missile as South Korea “breaks” the ground on the “peace” railroad.

By Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired an alleged ballistic missile off its east coast on Wednesday, just hours before South Korean President Moon Jae-in hoped it would link the divided Korean peninsula to the opening ceremony of a railway line.

The first launch since October underscored the stoppage of talks between South Korea and the United States in the face of a stalemate in international affairs to bolster military New Year’s oaths of leader Kim Jong Un.

The alleged missile was launched around 8:10 a.m. (2310 GMT) from an inland location on the east coast and into the sea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea said.

A few hours later, Moon visited the city of Goseong on the east coast of South Korea, near the northern border, where he broke ground to build a new railway line called “a step towards peace and regional balance on the Korean peninsula.”

The nuclear-armed missile launch highlighted Moon’s challenges to achieving diplomatic progress before the end of his five-year term in May.

Connecting the two Koreas by rail was the focus of meetings between Kim and Moon in 2018, but those efforts came to naught in talks aimed at convincing North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons in exchange for easing international sanctions in 2019.

Kim’s New Year’s speech did not mention South Korea’s stalled negotiations or the U.S.’s efforts to restart talks, although analysts say that does not mean it has closed the door to diplomacy.

The South Korean National Security Council called an emergency meeting and expressed concern about the launch, saying “the time has come for internal and external stability at a very important time” and urged North Korea to return to talks.

The Japanese Defense Minister said the alleged ballistic missile was about 500 km (310 miles) long.

“Since last year, North Korea has repeatedly fired missiles, and that is very unfortunate,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.

UN Security Council resolutions ban all North Korean ballistic missiles and nuclear testing, and impose sanctions as a result of the programs.

In a summary of the state media briefing Kim gave before the New Year, the North Korean leader did not specifically mention missiles or nuclear weapons, but said national defense should be strengthened.

North Korean military officials have been conducting winter exercises for several weeks, South Korean military officials said.

“Our military is ready to prepare for a possible additional launch, while closely monitoring the situation in close cooperation with the United States,” the JCS said in a statement. Recent North Korean missile tests have often been double or multiple shots.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea has become even more isolated, imposing border-blocking trade that has slowed trade and stifled personal diplomatic commitments.

It has also maintained a self-imposed moratorium on the testing of the largest intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or nuclear weapons. The last tests of an ICBM or nuclear bomb were in 2017, before meeting with US President Kim Donald Trump.

But Pyongyang has continued to test firing a number of new short-range ballistic missiles, including one fired from a submarine in October, arguing that it should not be penalized for developing weapons also used by other countries.

“While reading from North Korea’s recent plenary meetings may have prioritized rural development for next year, it does not mean that the country will stop ballistic missile testing,” said Michelle Kae, deputy director of North 38, North Korea’s monitoring program. At the Stimson Center in Washington.

MISSILE DEVELOPMENT

In a report last month, the U.S. Government’s Congressional Investigation Service concluded that North Korea continues to advance its nuclear weapons and missile programs, despite sanctions and diplomatic efforts by the United Nations Security Council.

“Recent ballistic missile tests and military parades suggest that North Korea continues to build a nuclear war designed to prevent the defense of the region’s ballistic missiles,” the report said.

A few hours after its launch in North Korea, Japan announced that its foreign and defense ministers would hold talks with members of the United States on Friday to discuss security issues.

The White House, the Pentagon, and the U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday’s presentation.

In a regular news release on Monday, State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated his desire to hold talks with North Korea, saying Washington had no enemies with North Korea and was ready to meet without preconditions.