The launch of the projectiles that North Korea fired toward the Japanese Sea yesterday was supervised by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. North Korean state media report that today.
The projectiles were fired from the coastal city of Wonsan, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported earlier. Afterward, the North Korean agency KCNA announced that Kim oversaw the launch.
According to KCNA, it was about military exercises. Kim allegedly gave the order to shoot and emphasized the need to increase combat capacity in order to “protect” political sovereignty and economic self-sufficiency of North Korea in view of possible “threats and raids”.
Yesterday, Seoul warned Pyongyang of actions that could further escalate tensions on the peninsula. The White House responded that it was “aware of the actions of North Korea” and continues to monitor the situation. Later, US President Donald Trump expressed confidence in Kim and said he was hopeful about a nuclear deal. Kim “knows that I am on his side and he does not want to break his promise to me. The deal will come!”, Trump wrote in a tweet.
Trump has been trying for some time to reach an agreement on the denuclearization of North Korea with Kim Jong-un. The two leaders have already had two summits with each other, but at the moment the discussions seem to have stopped.
