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 conducted joint military exercises. The missiles were fired from an area near the capital Pyongyang at around 1.20pm local time, heading towards the sea off the country's east coast.
Japan's coast guard detected what appeared to be a ballistic missile that fell into the sea, likely outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to public broadcaster NHK. The launch comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with Seoul and Washington carrying out major military drills that they describe as purely defensive.
North Korea has long condemned such exercises as 'dress rehearsals' for invasion. The country has been under UN Security Council sanctions since 2006 for its nuclear and missile programmes, but remains defiant in its pursuit of weapons development.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has renewed overtures for dialogue with Pyongyang. South Korea's Prime Minister Kim Min-seok met Trump in Washington on Thursday to discuss reopening talks, which have been stalled since 2019. Kim said Trump believed a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would be 'good', potentially during Trump's April visit to China.
However, North Korea has recently dismissed South Korea's peace efforts as a 'clumsy, deceptive farce', and Kim Jong-un has insisted that Washington must accept Pyongyang's nuclear status for relations to improve. The latest missile launch underscores the fragility of any potential diplomatic breakthrough.
