DOD: Kim Jong Un threatens security in the region

North Korea fired multiple short-range missiles this past weekend, just days after the sister of Kim Jong Un threatened the United States and South Korea for holding joint military exercises, according to the White House.

The missile tests, which were confirmed by a senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, also come as North Korea has ignored offers from the new administration to resume negotiations and Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week pressed China to use its "tremendous influence" to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, hours after the North said it will ignore U.S. offers to resume negotiations.

At a briefing on Tuesday, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby declined to comment on the firings, but when asked about North Korea's nuclear program said: It's Pyongyang, it's Kim Jong Un that is threatening security and stability on the peninsula in the region through his weapons of mass destruction and his nuclear program, and that's what we're focused on."

Adding, "when we talk about denuclearization. That's what we're talking about."

Relations between the U.S. and North Korea, once hailed as potentially promising after former President Donald Trump's three meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, have been tense with no substantive contact for more than a year.

The last face-to-face talks between senior officials from the two countries were held in Sweden in October 2019 and efforts by the Biden administration to resume a dialogue have been rebuffed since February.

Since Trump's first meeting with Kim in Singapore in 2018, the North has not conducted nuclear or long-range missile tests, although analysts believe they have pressed ahead with their programs on both. And, the North has not given up short- and medium range missile testing.

Kirby was also asked by reporters about China's strategic forces, pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and a request by the Department of Health and Human Services to provide military support for managing unaccompanied migrant children on the U.S. – Mexico border.

The leaders of China and North Korea are reaffirming their traditional alliance following contentious talks between top diplomats from Washington and Beijing and diplomatic isolation and economic problems in the North that have left it ever-more dependent on the Chinese.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that leader Kim Jong Un called for stronger “unity and cooperation” with China in the face of challenges posed by “hostile forces” while exchanging messages with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to KCNA and China’s Xinhua news agency, Xi in his own message to Kim described bilateral relations as a “valuable asset” to both countries and vowed to make unspecified contributions to the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby declined to comment on the missile launch.

North Korea fired multiple short-range missiles this past weekend, just days after the sister and top aide to Kim Jong Un criticized the United States and South Korea for holding joint military exercises, according to the White House.