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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Wednesday fired two short-range projectiles into waters off its east coast, South Korean officials said, on the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping's talks in Seoul expected to focus on the North's nuclear weapons program.

The launches, the third in a week, were believed to be sending a message that the North is boosting its defenses and expressing its displeasure that Xi will become the first Chinese leader to visit rival South Korea before the North, analysts say.

The projectiles, with a range of 180 kilometers (110 miles), were fired from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan and harmlessly landed in the sea Wednesday morning, South Korean defense officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of department rules.

The North also fired three short-range projectiles last Thursday and two short-range missiles again on Sunday, both into waters off the east coast, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry. The North's state media later said that leader Kim Jong Un had guided firing of missiles in a likely reference to those specific launches.

The launches sent a message that North Korea does not want anyone meddling in its building up nuclear and other defense capabilities, said Chang Yong Seok, a senior researcher at Seoul National University's Institute for Peace and Unification Studies. North Korea "must be feeling bad" about Xi's trip to South Korea, he said.

Xi and South Korean President Park Geun-hye were scheduled to hold their fifth meeting since Park took office in 2012. Xi has not yet met Kim since the young North Korean leader took power in 2011 following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.

China is North Korea's longtime ally and the main aid provider, but Beijing was angered when Pyongyang ramped up tensions last year with its third nuclear tests and a torrent of threats of nuclear strikes against Seoul and Washington. China has supported tightening of U.N. sanctions and cracked down on North Korean banking activity.

Wednesday's launch also came a day after South Korea rejected a set of proposals by North Korea that it said would reduce tensions, including the cancellation of annual drills between Seoul and Washington. Seoul officials said the North must first demonstrate that it is serious about nuclear disarmament if it truly wants peace.

North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission called for the drills to be scrapped, calling them a rehearsal for invasion. It also suggested that the two Koreas halt hostile military acts against each other at border areas and stop psychological warfare. South Korea and the U.S. have repeatedly denied that they seek to invade the North.

The Korean Peninsula officially remains in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Searchers recovered the body of a teenager who was swept into a storm drain in Cedar Rapids by fast-moving flood waters, a tragic end to an intense daylong search, authorities said Tuesday.

Firefighters searching by boat found the body of 17-year-old Logan Blake in Cedar Lake near downtown Cedar Rapids. The body was in 3 feet of water, about 75 yards from where he came out of a pipe after traveling more than a mile through the storm sewer system.

Blake was with friends Monday evening on the grounds of an elementary school when he was pulled into the open drain by water that flooded the neighborhood as a result of torrential rains that overwhelmed the sewer system. The three were planning to play Frisbee after an intense rain and wind storm when Blake may have fallen into a culvert that was obscured by the high waters.

His 17-year-old friend, David Bliss, went in the culvert to try to save Blake, but he was also dragged into the drain. Bliss traveled in the drain for more than one mile before emerging in Cedar Lake. He was shocked but able to walk to a hospital, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released. The third friend flagged down a vehicle to call 911.

Firefighters, police officers, city workers and volunteers searched the sewer system and lake for Blake on Monday night and all day Tuesday, before the discovery of his body at about 4 p.m. The body is being taken to a local hospital and the state medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

Jim Coyle, who was Blake's pastor and is a chaplain for Cedar Rapids fire and police, said the teen's parents are mourning the loss of "an incredible son" who was going to be a senior at Washington High School. He said Blake was a "very strong, very active kid" with many friends, a steady girlfriend and a strong devotion to family.

"The family is so grateful for all of the volunteers that have come here and poured their life and their heart and their passion in trying to see a better result," Coyle told reporters.

Coyle said he planned to provide counseling to Bliss in the days ahead, saying he "did a heroic thing" by trying to save Blake. He said it's impossible to know why one boy survived the turbulent ride through the storm sewer while another didn't.

"You have a young man that is going to live the rest of his life knowing that he attempted to save his best friend and was unsuccessful," he said.

The storm drain feeds into an underground concrete pipe about 4 1/2 feet wide at the school's culvert entrance. That pipe runs about a mile and a half southwest and is 10 feet in diameter where it empties into Cedar Lake.

One expert questioned whether the culvert complied with safety criteria recommended for the industry, and said the teen's disappearance was part of a national problem.

Any inlet that is wider than 48 inches or long enough that one cannot see daylight at the end should generally have a safety grate, said Ken MacKenzie, a committee chair for the National Association of Flood & Stormwater Management Agencies.

"If there was a 54-inch diameter pipe next to an elementary school without a safety grate on the inlet, that was a dangerous situation that could have been prevented." he said.

Craig Hanson, director of the Cedar Rapids public works department, said the drain had been there for decades without a problem. He said, to the city's knowledge, it's never had a grate, in part because of fears that it could get clogged and flood the neighborhood. The city will review the safety of its system, he said.

Coyle brushed off those concerns, saying the teenager was the victim of a tragedy.

"What took place was a rushing flood of water," he said. "It takes you swiftly and without any control. That's what happened."

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DETROIT (AP) — The ignition switch recalls now engulfing General Motors and Chrysler are raising new questions about the safety of the parts across the American auto industry.

GM's safety crisis deepened dramatically Monday when the automaker added 8.2 million vehicles in North America to its ballooning list of cars recalled over faulty ignition switches. GM has now issued five recalls for 17.1 million cars with defective switches, spanning every model year since 1997.

On the same day, Chrysler recalled almost 700,000 vehicles in North America because its ignition switches — like GM's — can slip from the "run" to the "accessory" position while driving. The Chrysler action expands an earlier recall of 2010 Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans and Dodge Journey crossovers. Models from 2007 to 2009 are now included.

GM's debacle caused other manufacturers to investigate their own switches and other potential defects. A recent spate of air bag recalls is probably tied to those internal investigations, said Karl Brauer, a senior industry analyst with Kelley Blue Book.

The government is also reviewing the switches.

Brauer said he does not think the ignition switch recalls will expand across the industry. Manufacturers all have their own switch designs and use different suppliers.

But the possibility is there, and buyers should be aware of the potential for cars to slip into the wrong mode. If a car comes out of the "run" position, the power steering and brakes can stop working, which can cause drivers to lose control. The air bags also won't function. GM has urged drivers to remove excess items from their key chains that could weigh down the keys.

"I think the ignition switch thing is fairly specific to GM, but it will be interesting to see. Were other companies letting their standards fall?" Brauer said.

GM's latest recalls involve mainly older midsize cars and bring its total recalls in North America to 29 million this year, surpassing the 22 million recalled by all automakers last year.

The new GM recalls cover seven vehicles, including the Chevrolet Malibu from 1997 to 2005, the Pontiac Grand Prix from 2004 to 2008, and the 2003-2014 Cadillac CTS.

The company is aware of three deaths, eight injuries and seven crashes involving the vehicles, although it says there's no clear evidence that faulty switches caused the accidents. Air bags did not deploy in the three fatal accidents, which is a sign that the ignition was out of position. But air bags may not deploy for other reasons as well.

A GM spokesman could not say Monday if more recalls are imminent. But this may be the end of the recalls associated with a 60-day review of all of the company's ignition switches. At the company's annual meeting earlier in June, CEO Mary Barra said she hoped most recalls related to that review would be completed by the end of the month.

Brauer said the number of recalls — while huge — may be a good thing for the company in the long run.

"I think there's a new standard for what GM considers a potential safety defect, and Mary Barra has no tolerance or patience for potential safety defects that are unresolved," he said.

In a statement Monday, Barra said the company "will act appropriately and without hesitation" if any new issues come to light.

Lance Cooper, a Marietta, Georgia, attorney who is suing GM, said he expects even more recalls. A company funded investigation of the ignition switch problems by former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas found that GM had a dysfunctional corporate culture in which people failed to take responsibility to fix the problems, Cooper said.

"Cars got made that were defective. The buck kept getting passed, and this is what happened as a result," Cooper said.

The announcement of more recalls extends a crisis for GM that began in February with small-car ignition switch problems. GM recalled 2.6 million older small cars worldwide because of the switches.

The problem has drawn the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the government's road safety agency. On June 18, the agency opened two investigations into ignition switches in Chrysler minivans and SUVs, and acknowledged that it's looking at the whole industry.

The agency is looking into how long air bags remain active after the switches are moved out of the run position. In many cases, the answer is less than a second.

GM's recalls on Monday bring this year's total so far to more than 40 million for the U.S. industry, far surpassing the old full-year record of 30.8 million from 2004.

The latest recalls came the same day the company's compensation consultant, Kenneth Feinberg, announced plans to pay victims of crashes caused by the defective small-car switches. Attorneys and lawmakers say about 100 people have died and hundreds were injured in crashes, although Feinberg said he didn't have a total.

Feinberg said the company has placed no limit on how much he can spend in total to compensate victims. But victims of the new set of recalls announced Monday can't file claims to the fund, which deals only with the small cars.

In the original recall, the ignition switches did not meet GM's specifications but were used anyway, and they slipped too easily out of the "run" position.

The vehicles recalled Monday have switches that do conform to GM's specifications. In these cases, the keys can move the ignition out of position because of jarring, bumps from the driver's knee or the weight of a heavy key chain, GM says. The cars recalled Monday will get replacement keys. The small cars recalled in February are getting new ignitions.

The Detroit company said it plans to take a $1.2 billion charge in the second quarter for recall-related expenses. Added to a $1.3 billion charge in the first quarter, that brings total recall expenses for the year to $2.5 billion.

GM also announced four other recalls Monday covering more than 200,000 additional vehicles. Most are to fix an electrical short in the driver's door that could disable the power locks and windows and even cause overheating.

GM has announced 54 separate recalls this year. The company's stock fell 32 cents, or just under 1 percent, to close Monday at $36.30.