The situation in the Korean peninsula keeps getting confusing. Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un exchange letters but neither of them talks about denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Instead, the US President says he received a "very beautiful letter" from the North Korean leader, and the Americans engage in a military exercise with South Korea, its ally. The North replies by launching more missiles into the sea. It is probably a sign of their frustration at the lack of progress on reviving the stalled denuclearization talks.

ABC AU reports that North Korea launched two more unidentified projectiles into the sea.

One of these appeared to be similar to an earlier short-range missiles fired by Pyongyang. The latest launch is one more attempt of the hermit kingdom to draw the attention of the United States to the problem that hangs in the balance. The two leaders agreed in the June 30 meeting at the DMZ to revive the talks. Instead, the joint military exercises are on. This time, it is a computer-simulated one rather than large-scale annual drills.

Trump downplays Kim’s missile launches

The US President does not attach much significance to the North Korean missile launches.

Trump, while interacting with a section of the media, said “There have been no nuclear tests. The missile tests have all been short-range." The two leaders have met in Singapore, Hanoi, and the Korean Demilitarized Zone. However, dates for a fresh round of talks are yet to be announced. Incidentally, Kim Jong-un said the tests were in response to the joint military drills of the United States and South Korea.

Kim’s regime has always been against these exercises because it interprets them as “a rehearsal for war.”

ABC AU provides more details of the missile tests.

An official of South Korea said the launch of the weapons was from near the city of Hamhung. The city has a setup to manufacture and test rocket engines for the ballistic missile program of North Korea.

Letter diplomacy of Kim Jong-un

According to BBC, North Korea continues to fire missiles into the sea. With its latest launch, it fired two of them and it was its fifth such launch in recent weeks. Shortly before the latest launches, the US president Donald Trump mentioned about a letter that Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, sent him. It was a three-page one and Trump was impressed. In his words - "It was a very positive letter." South Korea says the weapons launched could fall in the category of short-range ballistic missiles.

In that case, it would amount to a breach of a number of UN Security Council resolutions. The missiles covered a distance of around 250 miles, attained an altitude of about 30 miles and had a maximum speed of more than Mach 6.1. One can interpret the latest activities of Pyongyang as signs of frustration because it wants relaxation of sanctions.
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