North Korea has rejected any further talks with South Korea, justifying this decision by saying its “completely the fault of South Korea’s actions”.
It issued a statement in response to a speech by South Korea President Moon Jae-in on Thursday. Meanwhile, early on Friday North Korea test-fired missiles for the sixth time in less than a month. They landed in the sea off its eastern coast, the South Korean military said.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two “unidentified projectiles” were fired about 08:00 (23:00 GMT Thursday) and travelled 230km reaching an altitude of 30km.
President Moon.
In a speech marking Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule, President Moon vowed to unite the Korean peninsula by 2045. Korea divided into two countries at the end of World War Two.
President Moon said the goal of achieving denuclearisation in Korea was at its “most critical juncture”, as talks between North and South appear to be unsuccessful.
In a statement, the North said “even at this moment, South Korea continues its joint military exercise and to speak of a peaceful economy or a peaceful regime. It has no right to do so.”
The statement continued: “We even question if his thought process is sound when he mentions ‘talks’ between North and South while playing out war scenarios that plan to destroy most of our armies in 90 days.
“He truly is a shameless man.”
