Umar Farooq
09 May 2019•Update: 10 May 2019
WASHINGTON
The U.S. Air Force launched a ballistic missile test Thursday, the same day that North Korea was suspected of launching two missiles.
The Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California above the Pacific Ocean. The Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) said it traveled 4,200 miles, reaching the Kwajalein Atoll located in the Marshall Islands.
The command said it was the second missile launch in a little more than a week, and came just 10 minutes after Pyongyang reportedly launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, or Sea of Japan.
The North Korean missile was also its second conducted in a week, with reports that short-range missiles were also fired Saturday.
North Korea was suspected of launching its first missile Thursday at 3.29 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (0729GMT), while the U.S. launched its missile at 3.40 a.m. (0740GMT).
The AFGSC said the launch is "not a response or reaction to world events or regional tensions.
"The test demonstrates the United States’ nuclear deterrent is modern, robust, flexible, ready and appropriately tailored to deter twenty-first century threats and reassure our allies," it said in a press release.
The Air Force said the launch was part of regularly scheduled tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles to ensure they are ready for potential combat.
These tests are conducted four or five times a year, with each launch planned out up to six months to a year in advance.
North Korea's missile launches further complicate stalled talks between Washington and Pyongyang, with both sides failing to reach an agreement on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula after two summits between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Trump's last meeting with Kim in February ended without any progress on securing steps towards the North's denuclearization or the loosening of sanctions Pyongyang is seeking in return.
Trump said his talks with Kim broke down because the North Korean leader wanted the removal of sanctions "in their entirety," a claim rejected by Pyongyang, which insists it merely wanted a partial lifting of the biting economic penalties.
