For several days, North Korea has lashed out at South Korea, threatening to close an inter-Korean liaison office and other projects if the South does not stop defectors from sending leaflets and other material into the North.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made his first public appearance in 20 days as he celebrated the completion of a fertilizer factory near Pyongyang, state media said, ending an absence that triggered global rumors that he was seriously ill.
The string of weapons drills come as a prolonged hiatus in disarmament talks with the United States drags on, and despite recent overtures from Washington offering help to contain the pandemic.
North Korea's latest missile launches were meant as a warning to Washington and Seoul over their joint war games, the North's leader Kim Jong Un said, according to state news agency KCNA.
North Korea is saying that it had test-fired a new type of "tactical guided weapon," its first such test in nearly half a year. The country is also demanding the removal of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from talks over its nuclear programme.
Emulating his late father and grandfather, who took epic train trips when they were leaders, Kim set off on the long journey from Pyongyang, with a military honour guard seeing him off in the North Korean capital.
North Korean state media says the US President Donald Trump agreed to remove sanctions against Pyongyang in addition to providing security guarantees in the "historic" summit with the North's leader Kim Jong-un.
The US had not requested talks with North Korea, but Pence left open the possibility of some contact although his message for denuclearisation remained unchanged.
The North Korean Olympics ferry sailed past sanctions temporarily into Mukho port in the South's eastern city of Donghae, an hour's drive from the main Olympics venue in Pyeongchang.
Talks at the border village of Panmunjom focus on appearances by North Korea's state-run artistic performers and when and where in South Korea they would perform, officials say.
Pyongyang reiterates that the military drills launched by the US and South Korea are a provocation and are intended to mount a surprise nuclear pre-emptive strike against North Korea.
Kim Jong-un promises to make a "mentally deranged" Trump pay dearly for his threats.
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