N. Korea fires projectiles only several hours after proposing talks to U.S.

北, 美에 대화제의하고 바로 발사체 발사... 양면적 태도 의도는?That test-launch of projectiles by North Korea this morning came only a matter of hours after its Vice Foreign Minister said the regime is willing to come back to the nuclear negotiation table.Our Oh Jung-hee has more on North Korea's possible motives.Pyeongyang reaches out to Washington for dialogue... and at the same time, shows off its weapons capabilities.Late Monday, Pyeongyang's First Vice Foreign Minister, Choe Son-hui, issued a statement.She said... the North is willing to engage in some comprehensive discussions with the U.S. in late September.She added, however, that the U.S. would have to come to the table with a (quote)"new approach," something the regime's leader Kim Jong-un called for in his speech in April.But only a few hours later, the North test-fired a couple of as-yet-unidentified projectiles.And it was apparently confident in this technology, since the projectiles flew right over North Korea's own territory, coming down 330 kilometers to the east, in the sea.Pyeongyang's immediate testing of projectiles could raise some's eyebrows about how sincere it is about dialogue.But North Korea experts say... the regime is surely aware of that and juxtaposed these two actions strategically."Choe's statement yesterday is a little different from the North's original stance. Pyeongyang used to claim that it will come to the table only if the U.S. has a new approach, but now, it says it will first come to the table. It's actually conceding to what U.S. has been calling for. But so it doesn't look like that, the North is launching projectiles at the same time."Pundits say the North also feels the need to test weapons to dispel its security concerns... because South Korea is adopting new weapons like the F-35A stealth fighter jets.The North has recently carried out 10 launches, testing 4 new weapons, which means the regime is still verifying their performance.The continued testing of projectiles, observers say, means that when the North meets with the U.S. next time it might raise the issue of security guarantees rather than sanctions relief.Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.