A day before Xi - Trump's highly anticipated summit meeting, North Korea has again dared to test the patience of China and U.S. by test firing a latest ballistic missile. The isolated communist state test fired ballistic missile from its eastern port city of Sinpo towards the Sea of Japan, according to South Korean defence ministry.

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The latest test will put additional pressure on President Xi Jingping as he prepares to discuss the sensitive North Korea nuclear issue with U.S. President Donald Trump during his Florida summit. Trump has already stepped up the pressure on Beijing by declaring earlier this week that the U.S. is ready to fight all alone against Pyongyang, if China chooses to back out.              

China has so far not issued any official statement on the latest missile test, while U.S. and its allies including South Korea and Japan have expectedly condemned the test. The U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that "The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment."

America has also made some initial assessments about the test, with United States Pacific Command claiming that the missile appears to have been a KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile. KN-15 is usually the name that United States uses to refer to the Pukguksong-2, a new nuclear capable missile Pyongyang launched for the first time in February.         

North Korea on a missile testing spree

After a brief hiatus, North Korea was back on the missile testing spree this year. Pyongyang's several missile tests this year appears to have been conducted as a show of strength against President Donald Trump, who has vowed to act more sternly against the isolated communist nation than all his predecessors.

Last month, the improvised communist nation belligerently challenged the international community by test firing four back-to-back ballistic missiles. The missile tests immediately drew international condemnation and brought back the pressure on China to do more to convince its communist neighbour on giving up its controversial nuclear program.

China, which is Pyongyang's sole ally, has repeatedly mentioned that holding direct talks or relying on UN sanctions are the only two options available to deal with the North Korea nuclear issue.         

TagsNorth Korea, china, North Korea nuclear program, Xi Jingping, donald trump