SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, days after the North threatened to bolster its nuclear deterrent capabilities and respond to what it called U.S. hostilities.

The launches were the latest in a series of weapons demonstrations by North Korea even after U.S. President Donald Trump scaled back a joint military exercise with South Korea last month in an apparent effort to revive diplomacy with the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

On the 81st anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for a formal conclusion of the Korean War and peaceful ties between Seoul and Pyongyang. President Lee’s peace offering to Pyongyang is being hailed as a massive step towards regional de-escalation and peaceful coexistence. But the important question: what influenced the South Korean leader to extend an olive Branch to Pyongyang at this point?