DPRK fires missiles; restart of peninsula negotiations urged

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea fired two short-range missiles, on Thursday morning, a move that analysts expect will present difficulties for efforts to resume long-stalled denuclearization talks.

The DPRK launched the missiles from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, one of them flying about 430 kilometers and the other 690 km out over the sea, Reuters said. They both reached an altitude of 50 km before splashing down, the report cited an anonymous Republic of Korea Defense Ministry official as saying.

The second missile appeared to be "a new design that had not been seen before", and a detailed analysis was being done to verify the object's qualities, the official added.