SEOUL, June 19 (UPI) -- North Korea is once again turning up the military tension on the peninsula by test-firing a missile amid signs of progress in the nuclear standoff.
The communist country fired a short-range missile off its eastern coast Tuesday afternoon in what appeared to be part of a military drill, the South Korean Defense Ministry said without disclosing further details.
It is the third time North Korea has fired a missile this year. On June 7, the North launched two short-range missiles off its western coast, following a test-fire late last month.
But South Korean officials were not worried that the missile tests would affect the hard-won North Korean nuclear disarmament process.
Officials from the international nuclear watchdog will visit North Korea next week to discuss the North's shutdown of its nuclear facilities under a February multilateral deal.
