SEOUL, South Korea _ North Korea fired at least two "unidentified projectiles" into its eastern seas, South Korea said, hours after Pyongyang expressed willingness to restart nuclear talks with the U.S.
The projectiles were launched early Tuesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The incident came hours after top North Korean diplomat Choe Son Hui issued a statement saying the country would be willing to hold talks "at the time and place to be agreed late in September."
The North Korean statement, published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, cited recent comments by U.S. officials expressing a desire for negotiations and made no mention of any new concessions. The remarks, which follow a speech Friday by lead U.S. negotiator Stephen Biegun, represented some of the regime's most positive remarks about talks since President Donald Trump's June 30 meeting with Kim Jong Un.
The two leaders agreed at the historic meeting on the Demilitarized Zone to restart working-level talks within two to three weeks. In the months since, North Korea has stepped up launches of short-range ballistic missiles and repeatedly signaled a willingness to break off negotiations.
Trump sounded a cautious note in response to questions about the North Korean statement, citing the regime's continued freeze on nuclear weapons testing. "We'll see what happens, but I always say having meetings is a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump told reporters.
