Anchor: U.S. President Donald Trump is down playing North Korea’s latest missile launches, saying he is not upset by the military action. The ballistic missile firings came weeks after Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met late last month and agreed to resume their stalled nuclear dialogue.
"... they are short-range missiles and my relationship is very good with Chairman Kim and we'll see what happens. But they are short range missiles, and many people have those missiles. No not at all."
U.S. President Donald Trump says he is not upset by North Korea's short-range ballistic missile launches earlier this week.
Trump on Friday addressed the military action, which North Korea called a warning to South Korea.
"Well he didn't say, he didn't say a warning to the United States. I can tell you that he didn't say a warning to the United States. But they have their disputes. The two of them have their disputes. They've had them for a long time."
State-run media outlets in Pyongyang said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally oversaw what they called a "new tactical guided weapon" test on Thursday.
"[Leader Kim Jong-un] personally organized and guided the new-type tactical guided weapon launch in a solemn warning to the South Korean military warmongers who are running high fever in their moves to introduce the ultramodern offensive weapons and hold military exercises in defiance of the repeated warnings.”
The North Korean media said the launch is a "solemn warning" by Kim to South Korean “military warmongers,” who were described as "running high fever in their moves to introduce the ultramodern offensive weapons and hold military exercises in defiance of the repeated warnings.”
Earlier this month, the South Korean Air Force received two U.S.-built F-35A stealth fighter jets, planning to complete a fleet of 40 by 2021. Seoul and Washington are also scheduled to stage their joint 19-2 Dongmaeng military exercise next month.
Despite what President Trump says, Dr. Lim Eul-chul at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies and other analysts agree North Korea's message is also directed at Washington.
[Sound bite: Lim Eul-chul - Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University (Korean)]
"Ahead of working-level talks, North Korea appears to be seeking leverage in negotiation by pressuring South Korea as the U.S. is not agreeing to its demand."
The new hard-to-intercept guided weapon is an added pressure to Seoul. While noting they are similar to Russia's Iskander, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff revealed the missiles did not remain in fixed descending trajectories but temporarily pulled up and glided at low altitudes before they were dropped into the East Sea.
The North’s media said that Kim was content after confirming the terminal guidance capabilities of the weapon.
