North Korea appears to have fired cruise missiles

NorthKoreafired what appeared to be two cruise missiles into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, SouthKorea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, days after a flurry of ballistic missile tests.

SouthKorea's military is assessing the launches to determine the nature of the projectiles, it said.

Such a launch would be its fifth missile test of the year, asNorthKorean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to bolster the military with cutting-edge technology at a time when talks with SouthKoreaand the United States have stalled.

The isolated nation's biggest cluster of missile launches since at least 2019 has prompted an expression of concern from the UNsecretary general, and the Biden administration in the U.S. has applied new sanctions.

Lee Sang-min, a military expert at theKoreaInstitute for Defence Analyses, says the missile volleys this month look to be aimed at building geopolitical tensions and perhaps push the Biden administration to come up with a new strategy toward the NorthKorean leader.

North Koreaopen to talks, it says

"Cruise missiles are slower than ballistic missiles and so are regarded as less of a threat, but they hit targets with high precision, somethingNorthKoreawould continue to develop," Lee said.

Cruise missile launches by theNorthare not banned under United Nations sanctions imposed on Pyongyang, which has defied international condemnation and conducted four rounds of ballistic missile tests, the most recent on Jan. 17.

China and Russia have pushed the UNSecurity Council to remove a ban on Pyongyang's exports of statues, seafood and textiles, and raise a refined petroleum imports cap.

NorthKoreahas said it is open to talks, but only if the United States and others drop "hostile policies" such as sanctions and military drills.