by Itunuoluwa Adebo

North Korea fired a ballistic missile off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, ahead of the first meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping,

The missile which fell into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, on Wednesday morning and is one of several they have test-fired in recent months. North Korea’s nuclear program was expected to be an important talking point between Xi and Trump. The United States has been pushing China to put pressure on North Korea to stop its nuclear program and missile testing, but Trump said the United States would take actions to stop North Korea.

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According to the Center for strategic and international studies, North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un in his first five years has overseen more than double the number of missile tests than his father did during his 17-year rule.

According to the CNN, a senior White House official on Tuesday said: “The clock has now run out” and all options are on the table,” pointing to the failure of successive administrations’ efforts to negotiate an end to the country’s nuclear program.

The test elicited a matter of fact response from the US State Department, unlike the standard condemnations that usually follow Pyongyang’s missile tests. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement “North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment,”

Itunuoluwa