North Korea fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he planned to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year.
South Korea’s military said the missiles were launched from the Pyongyang area towards the East Sea at about 5:00 p.m. local time. The projectiles travelled approximately 300 kilometres, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which said South Korean and US authorities were conducting a detailed analysis of their specifications.
The launches came as South Korea and the United States conducted a scaled-back version of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises.
North Korea has consistently condemned joint US-South Korean military drills as rehearsals for an invasion and has frequently carried out missile tests around the time of such exercises.
Trump, in remarks earlier on Thursday, said it was important for him to “get along” with Kim and disclosed that North Korea now possessed 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons. South Korea has previously estimated that the North could have between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads.
Following the missile launches, South Korea’s presidential office convened an emergency security meeting and condemned the tests as violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions. Officials also ordered heightened military readiness.
US, South Korea Scale Back Military Exercises
The latest developments came after Seoul announced that the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises would end on Friday, roughly a week earlier than initially scheduled, following a request from the United States.
The Pentagon said the shortened drills would not compromise US training objectives.
The annual exercises are designed to strengthen the allies’ readiness to respond to a potential attack from North Korea.
The United States maintains approximately 28,500 troops in South Korea as part of its longstanding commitment to the country’s defence, dating back to the 1950–53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty.
Trump’s renewed focus on Kim and the decision to scale back the joint exercises have raised concerns among some US allies in Asia, while also fuelling speculation that Washington could be seeking a diplomatic breakthrough as the Iran war stalls.
South Korean officials, however, said they were not aware of any current direct communication between Trump and Kim.
Seoul Maintains Denuclearisation Position
South Korea’s Defence Minister, Ahn Gyu-back, said Seoul remained opposed to formally recognising North Korea as a nuclear-armed state.
Asked whether Washington had abandoned its goal of denuclearising North Korea, Ahn said he did not believe the United States had done so.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who has advocated strengthening the country’s own defence capabilities to reduce its reliance on the United States, said on Wednesday that he would “do his utmost” to support Trump’s efforts to pursue peace with North Korea.
The latest missile launches nevertheless underscore the security challenges facing efforts to revive dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, even as Trump signals renewed interest in engaging Kim.
