North Korea Is Serious About Wiping U.S. Off the Map

North Korea test-fired four short-range missiles Thursday, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said, a move that aggravates already high tensions following Pyongyang’s recent nuclear test and U.N. sanctions imposed as punishment.

On Thursday afternoon, two ground-to-ship missiles were fired from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan. A ministry official confirmed the test launch on condition of anonymity as department policy requires, according to the Associated Press.

North Korea fired a third missile later from the east coast, but the exact site and the type of a rocket are unknown, the official said. All three missiles were propelled about 60 miles and identified as KN-01 missiles with a range of up to 100 miles, reports Yonhap News Agency.

A fourth missile was fired later, however, specific details are still being sought.

Just two weeks earlier, North Korea issued a no-sail zone in waters off its east coast until July 10 for military drills. The zone restriction was viewed as a precursor to such missile tests.

The launches came at a time when official North Korean relations with the United States, South Korea and other countries were already damaged beyond repair after its May 25 a series of missile firings and underground nuclear tests. The U.N. Security Council adopted a tough sanctions resolution last month to punish the communist regime.

“We had expected that they will fire short-range missiles at any time,” South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told The Associated Press at a reception held at the U.S. ambassador’s residence to mark Independence Day on July 4, which falls this weekend. “It’s not a good sign because they are demonstrating their military power.”

The United States has called for Chinese support to enforce the U.N. sanctions. Philip Goldberg, in charge of organizing the execution of sanctions against the North, told reporters in Beijing that he had “very good conversations” with Chinese officials, though not give details of the talks .

Wu Dawei, China’s top Nuclear envoy, left Thursday for Russia as part of diplomatic efforts to push North Korea back to the stalled nuclear disarmament talks.

Wu is also scheduled to visit the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, the ministry said. The five nations have been in talks since 2003 in an effort to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs in return for economic aid and other concessions.

“The purpose of Wu Dawei’s visit is to exchange views with relevant parties on the nuclear issues on the Korean peninsula,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

The reported missile moves came after a North Korean ship — suspected of possibly carrying illicit weapons — changed course and was heading back the way it came after remaining under U.S. surveillance for more than a week.

The North Korean ship is the first vessel monitored under the new U.N. sanctions that seek to clamp down on Pyongyang’s trading of banned arms and weapons-related material by requiring U.N. member states to request inspections of ships suspected of carrying prohibited cargo.

The North has said it would consider the interception of its ships a declaration of war.

Separately, North and South Korea ended their latest talks over a troubled joint industrial project without progress, and did not set a date for the next round, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said. The two sides “failed to narrow their differences,” during their meeting in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, Chun said.