A matter of hours prior to firing those missiles,.... North Korea revealed late Tuesday that it will resume long-stalled working-level nuclear talks with the United States in the coming days.
The state media report, which came out of the blue, cited a statement from a senior member of the North's crack team of negotiators with the U.S.
Shortly after North Korea's announcement, Washington confirmed the talks are indeed ON.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
Citing its First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui,... North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday,... that Washington and Pyeongyang have agreed to hold "preliminary contact" on Friday,... before holding working-level negotiations on Saturday.
Choe did not mention where the talks will be held,... but said the North is ready to talk... and expects some positive developments.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus later confirmed North Korea's statement,... saying officials from the two sides "plan to meet within the next week".
She also refrained from elaborating about the specifics, such as the location for the talks.
Also reacting, South Korea's presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae said it welcomed the scheduled resumption of talks.
In a text message to reporters on Tuesday,... Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Ko Min-jung said Seoul hopes the talks will lead to both sides making "practical progress" at upcoming working-level negotiations for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of lasting peace.
The upcoming talks will be the first nuclear talks between Pyeongyang and Washington since the second North Korea-U.S. summit ended early in Hanoi in February due to differences over the North's denuclearization measures and sanctions relief from the U.S.
Hopes for a resumption of their talks started to emerge after President Trump fired his hawkish U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton last month,... widely seen as a conciliatory gesture by Trump.
However, watchers say it remains to be seen whether the two sides can make substantive progress this time,... given they still seem far apart over the scope of the North's denuclearization, its disarmament method,... and what compensation it could receive from the U.S.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.