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Kim Jong Un during missile test (archive image)
Photo: HANDOUT / AFP
North Korea tested two short-range missiles over the weekend, according to the American and South Korean governments.
The fired cruise missiles had not violated the United Nations ban, they were weapons systems "at the lower end of the spectrum," said two high-ranking US officials familiar with the matter to the Reuters news agency on Tuesday.
The South Korean chief of staff confirmed the North Korean tests.
When asked about the activity in North Korea by reporters, US President Joe Biden said: "We have learned that not much has changed." He does not see the actions of the isolated country as a provocation.
The British Guardian quotes the head of 38North, a US website that observes the behavior of North Koreans in the ongoing conflict with the USA.
According to Jenny Town, the test was a "rather soft signal".
The Biden administration is in the "final stages" of a full review of US policy towards North Korea and will discuss this with allies Japan and South Korea next week, US officials told Reuters.
The activities in North Korea over the weekend would not reduce the chances of further negotiations, said one of the insiders.
The dictator's sister railed against Biden
Since a meeting between Biden's predecessor Donald Trump and President Kim Jong Un, there has been no radio silence between the two states.
Last week, North Korea publicly addressed the new US government for the first time and asked it to refrain from military maneuvers in South Korea.
The influential sister of the ruler had also turned to Biden - with clear words.
Its government wants to "spread the smell of gunpowder over our country," said Kim Yo Jong, according to the North Korean state newspaper "Rodong Sinmun".
"If you want to sleep soundly for the next four years, it would be better not to get involved in work that will keep you awake."
jok / Reuters
