FOCUS: North Korea's missile launches aimed at prodding U.S. to ease sanctions

North Korea's consecutive missile launches are apparently designed to urge the United States to ease sanctions, with the nuclear-armed country acknowledging it has been facing a severe economic downturn.Some pundits also said Wednesday's test-fire of ballistic missiles may have been intended to retaliate for the South's recent development of submarine-launched ballistic missiles to be deployed anytime soon to counter the North's military capabilities.As South Korea is one of the closest U.S. security allies in East Asia along with Japan, North Korea looks to be trying to put more pressure o…READ FULL ARTICLE