North Korea Fires Missiles, Slams Trump's 'Egotism'

Ground-to-ship missiles land near site of US drills
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 8, 2017 4:33 AM CDT
North Korea Fires Missiles, Slams Trump's 'Egotism'
People watch a TV news program showing file footage of a missile launched by North Korea, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, June 8, 2017.   (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

North Korea angered the US and its own neighbors Thursday morning with yet another missile launch, this time involving what South Korean officials believe were multiple anti-ship missiles from Wonsan on the country's east coast. Officials say the missiles traveled around 125 miles. Pyongyang is trying to develop missiles capable of reaching the US mainland and the Washington Post reports that the pace of testing has been "relentless:" There were three missile launches in May, making it 16 for the year, meaning Kim Jong Un has now ordered as many launches in 2017 alone as father Kim Jong Il ordered during his 17 years as the country's supreme leader.

The missiles, fired the day after South Korea announced that it is delaying implementation of the THAAD anti-missile system, landed in waters where the US aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson and USS Ronald Reagan recently carried out drills with the South Korean navy, the AP reports. CNBC reports that Pyongyang released a statement this week denouncing the US not for the drills, but for President Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate accord. The foreign ministry statement slammed the "egotism and moral vacuum" of those making such a "short-sighted and silly decision" about the global environment. (More North Korea missile launch stories.)

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