North Korea launched more than 10 ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, according to South Korea’s military, as the United States and South Korea carried out joint military exercises and Donald Trump renewed efforts to restart dialogue with Pyongyang.
The missiles were fired from an area near the capital Pyongyang at about 1.20pm local time, heading towards the sea off the country’s east coast, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said. Japan’s coast guard detected what appeared to be a ballistic missile that fell into the sea, likely outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, public broadcaster NHK reported.
North Korea has been testing ballistic and cruise missiles for over two decades as part of its push to develop nuclear delivery capabilities. The country has been under UN sanctions since 2006 but remains defiant despite the economic and defence obstacles imposed.
Seoul and Washington began major military drills this week, which they describe as purely defensive and aimed at testing readiness against North Korean threats. Pyongyang routinely condemns such exercises as “dress rehearsals” for invasion.
On Thursday, South Korea’s prime minister met Trump in Washington to discuss reopening dialogue with the North, which has been suspended since 2019. Kim Min-seok said Trump thought a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would be “good”. Trump has previously expressed openness to meeting Kim, but Pyongyang has largely ignored these overtures.
North Korea recently indicated it could “get along” with the US if Washington accepted its nuclear status, while also dismissing South Korea’s peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce”.
