Since July, North Korea’s missile tests have followed a similar pattern . Usually in the morning, reports from the South Korean or Japanese military come out describing “projectiles” fired from somewhere in North Korea and flying several hundred kilometers into the sea. Although US President Donald Trump has dismissed these short-range launches as not violating any agreements banning Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) or nuclear weapons, analysis shows each test is allowing North Korea to advance its weapons capability. After South Korea and Japan both confirmed and condemned Wednesday’s launch, North Korea announced that the test was a “new type” of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). According to analysts at 38 North, a North Korea think tank in Washington, the Pukguksong-3 missile flew 950 kilometers in the air and landed around 450 kilometers from its launch site. Analysts said if the missile had been launched on a normal trajectory, it would have been capable of covering nearly 2,000 kilometers, making it the longest-range solid-fuel missile North Korea has ever tested. Launch ‘an unfortunate coincidence?’ Hours before Wednesday’s launch, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it had agreed to a new round of talks with the US. Despite international condemnation of these repeated tests, the…