Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies) – North Korea this morning test-fired several short-range missiles towards the Sea of Japan, provoking diplomatic and street protests, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reports citing US and Japanese government sources.
According to a defence paper Pyongyang presented to the ASEAN Regional Forum, the U.S., Japan and South Korea were the biggest threat to its security and sovereignty.
In it the Stalinist regime led by Kim Jong-il said that it was willing to dismantle its nuclear arsenal on condition the US does the same to the weapons it has deployed around North Korea.
Whatever the reason, today’s test-launching is the first of its kind since last July. Tensions heightened by Pyongyang’s July weapons-testing reached a crisis point and were brought to an end only on February 13, 2007, when the six-nation talks reached an agreement on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.