North Korea tests missiles soon after announcing resumption of nuclear talks with US

North Korea fired missiles in an apparent display of its expanding military capabilities ahead of planned nuclear negotiations with the United States this weekend. Photo / AP

North Korea and the United States will resume negotiations Saturday, marking the first official talks between the two sides since President Donald Trump met Kim Jong Un in June, the North Korean government announced Tuesday.

But North Korea followed up that announcement by launching what appeared to be two ballistic missiles off its eastern coast on Wednesday morning, with Japan saying one may have landed in the waters of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Earlier, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus later told reporters that officials from the two countries plan to meet "within the next week."

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said the two countries "agreed to hold a working-level discussion on October 5th, following a preliminary contact on the 4th," according to a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

"I expect the working-level talks to accelerate positive developments in DPRK-U.S. relations," Choe said, using the initials of her country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "Our representatives are ready to attend the working-level talks with the United States."

But on Wednesday morning, North Korea continued with what has been a series of missile tests. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea had fired an "unidentified" projectile, while Japan's government said the launch appeared to involve two ballistic missiles, and that one may have fallen inside its EEZ.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters the launch violated U.N. Security Council resolutions, adding "we strongly condemn and protest the act."

President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone, South Korea on June 30. Photo / AP

The missile test was a reminder of North Korea's military capabilities, and an indication that it intends to drive a hard bargain in the talks, experts said. It can also be seen as an implicit threat - that if it doesn't get what it wants in the negotiations, it could ratchet tensions up higher.

Choe's statement did not say where the talks would take place.

Negotiations between the two countries' diplomats have been frozen since the breakdown of a summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi in February. Another meeting between the two leaders at the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas in June was supposed to lead to a resumption of negotiations, but the stalemate persisted until now.

Meanwhile, North Korea has conducted short-range ballistic missile tests, while complaining bitterly about joint military exercises carried out by the United States and South Korea. On Monday, North Korea blamed the stalling of the dialogue on Washington and Seoul, accusing them of failing to keep their promises.

North Korean Ambassador Kim Song told the U.N. General Assembly that it was up to the United States whether negotiations "will become a window of opportunity or an occasion that will hasten the crisis."

Talks between the US and North Korea will resume this weekend. Photo / AP

"The situation on the Korean Peninsula has not come out of the vicious cycle of increased tension, which is entirely attributable to the political and military provocations perpetrated by the US," the ambassador said.

North Korea has also insisted that talks will succeed only if the United States takes a different approach than its tack in Hanoi, but it has been careful not to criticise Trump directly.

Indeed, the North Korean Foreign Ministry also said last week that Trump is "different from his predecessors in political sense and decision" and that it hoped he would make a wise, bold decision.

Experts said Pyongyang saw a potential opening for progress before next year's U.S. election campaign.

Performers hold up cards to form a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a mass games performance titled 'The Land of the People'. Photo / AP

"As this year draws to an end, Kim Jong Un is trying to speed up the nuclear talks," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. "Next year, the United States will have its presidential election, and South Korea will have a legislative election. Kim's strategy could be to have his third meeting with President Trump before next year to get the best result ahead of the elections race."

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the removal of John Bolton as White House national security adviser last month might have encouraged North Korea to think it could win sanctions relief by making a deal with Trump. Bolton had consistently held a hard line on North Korea.

In return, Easley said, Pyongyang might offer concessions, such as an unverifiable freeze on nuclear weapons production, that Trump could present as a symbolic victory.

"With Bolton out of the administration and the US Congress talking impeachment, Pyongyang sees an opportunity," Easley said.

On Monday, in his first public remarks since being fired, Bolton called North Korea's nuclear weapons a "grave and growing threat" and said he did not believe Kim would give them up voluntarily.