North Korea fires off missile hours after Trump says he plans to meet Kim

BREAKING: North Korea fires a missile just hours after Trump said he plans to meet Kim Jong Un this year, with the projectile believed to have splashed down in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

North Korea fired a missile hours after Trump said he'd meet Kim this year.

Here's the sequence. The American president told reporters he plans to sit down with Kim Jong Un before the year is out. Pyongyang's answer arrived the same day, at least one apparent ballistic missile heading toward the Sea of Japan. Seoul's military detected the launch, and Tokyo's Defense Ministry says it splashed down in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. So no territory touched, but the message wasn't subtle.

And that's the thing about Kim. An invitation from Washington doesn't get a thank you note, it gets a launch. He negotiates with hardware first, so if a summit does happen this year, this is him setting the price before anyone's booked a room.

No one hurt, no line crossed, and a missile in the water that says talks will be on Pyongyang's terms or not at all.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.

Source Read the original reporting at japantimes.co.jp