SEOUL — North Korea test-fired five short-range missiles into the sea on Sunday in its second such weapons test this year, South Korean defense officials said, amid dimming prospects for the resumption of high-level talks between the rival countries. The missiles, fired from a North Korean coastal town, flew about 200 km before landing in waters off the country's east coast, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules. North Korea routinely tests missiles and rockets, but the latest launches came with the two Koreas at odds over terms for a possible summit meeting between their leaders. The two countries last month floated the idea of the summit, which would be the third such meeting since they were divided 70 years ago. North Korea separately told the US last month that it was willing to impose a temporary moratorium on its nuclear tests if Washington cancels joint military drills with South Korea. But the US has rejected the overture, calling it an "implicit threat." The South Korean defense official said Sunday's launches were the North's second missile firings this year. The North said Saturday that it had test-fired a new anti-ship cruise missile, and that the nation's leader, Kim Jong Un, observed the firing. The South Korean official said that launch took place Friday. The official said it wasn't immediately known whether the missiles fired on Sunday were the same type launched two days earlier. The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. — AP
