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 drills and Donald Trump renewed overtures for dialogue with Pyongyang.
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, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Japan's coast guard detected what appeared to be a ballistic missile that fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, public broadcaster NHK reported.
North Korea has been test-launching ballistic and cruise missiles for over two decades in an effort to develop nuclear delivery capabilities, which it is believed to have successfully achieved. Pyongyang has been under multiple UN Security Council sanctions since 2006, but remains defiant despite severe economic and trade restrictions.
Seoul and Washington this week launched major military drills, which they describe as purely defensive to test readiness against North Korean threats. North Korea, a nuclear-armed state, frequently 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, suspended since 2019. Trump reportedly said a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would be 'good', potentially during his April visit to Beijing.
Kim Jong-un recently suggested the two nations could 'get along' if Washington accepted Pyongyang's nuclear status, while also dismissing South Korea's peace efforts as a 'clumsy, deceptive farce'.
