North Korea Launches Weapons Hours After Offering Talks with US

 

North Korea launched two short-distance projectiles² Tuesday, a few hours after offering to restart talks with the United States this month.

It is the tenth set of weapons tests since May. That is when North Korea restarted missile tests after more than one year without one.

South Korea’s Joint³ Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles were launched from South Pyongan Province in the country’s western area and landed in the sea off of North Korea’s eastern coast.

American and South Korean officials said the projectiles traveled about 330 kilometers. The South Korean military called for the North to “immediately stop” actions that increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula. U.S. officials said they knew about the activity and were working closely with allies.

North Korea offers to restart talks

The test comes hours after North Korean vice⁴ foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, said that North Korea was willing to restart talks with the U.S. this month.

“We are willing to sit face-to-face with the U.S. around late September at a time and place that we can agree on,” Choe said. Her statement was carried by the official North Korean Central News Agency.

However, Choe said that the U.S. must produce an “acceptable calculation” or risk the end of talks. North Korea has been seeking some compromise from the U.S. in easing economic sanctions.

Reporters later asked U.S. President Donald Trump⁵ about the offer to meet for talks. He said, “I always say having meetings is a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held their second set of talks in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February, but did not reach a deal. Trump rejected Kim’s demand for relief from some U.S. economic sanctions in return for moves to partly end the North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

The two leaders did meet for a short time in June at the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea. However, working-level talks have not yet started.

At their first talks in Singapore last year, Trump and Kim approved a statement calling for the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

But since then, North Korea has not reduced its nuclear weapons program. And in a report last week, the United Nations said the North’s development of nuclear warheads has not stopped.

Kim warned in his New Year’s speech that he may take a “new path” if the U.S. does not change its approach to the talks. The North has set a time limit of the year’s end. After that time, it might restart nuclear and long-distance missile tests.

Kim Dong-yub is an expert with the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. He said the most recent launch may be the latest warning about a “new path.”

He added, “It is intended to send a message to the U.S. that…it can go further next year during the presidential race.”

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

projectile¹ –n. something that is shot or fired as a weapon

sanction –n. an action taken in order to force a country to obey international laws usually by limiting trade with that country

scenario⁶ –n. a description of what could possibly happen

intend –v. to plan to want to do something

1 projectile   

n.投射物，发射体；adj.向前开进的；推进的；抛掷的

参考例句：

• The vertical and horizontal motions of a projectile can be treated independently.抛射体的竖直方向和水平方向的运动能够分开来处理。
• Have you altered the plans of the projectile as the telegram suggests?你已经按照电报的要求修改炮弹图样了吗?

2 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。