In the early hours of Saturday, the North Korea launched several ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast.
According to South Korea’s military, the missile strike comes days after Pyongyang warned of “Terrible consequences” over ongoing joint military exercises between the United States (US) and South Korea.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missiles were detected shortly after launch from the Sunan area near Pyongyang.
The JCS, in a statement, said it observed “around ten unidentified ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea at around 1:20 pm (0420 GMT).”
Japan’s Defence Ministry also confirmed the activity, noting in a post on its official X account that “What is possibly a ballistic missile was launched from North Korea.”
The launches occurred amid rising tensions in the region, following North Korea’s strong criticism of renewed diplomatic overtures from South Korea and the United States.
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Pyongyang recently dismissed Seoul’s latest efforts at engagement, describing them as a “clumsy, deceptive farce,” effectively shutting down hopes for improved relations.
Meanwhile, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok revealed that US President Donald Trump believes a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be beneficial.
Speaking after talks with Trump in Washington, Kim said the US leader indicated that meeting Kim Jong Un would be “good.” He also suggested that such a meeting might take place during Trump’s planned visit to Beijing later this month.
The United States has long sought to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme through diplomacy, sanctions and negotiations. However, years of talks and pressure have produced little progress.
The Trump administration has recently stepped up efforts to reopen high-level dialogue with Pyongyang and is reportedly exploring the possibility of another summit with Kim Jong Un.
Trump had previously stated during a visit to Asia in October that he was “100 per cent” willing to meet the North Korean leader again. Pyongyang, however, did not respond publicly to the proposal at the time.
After months of silence, Kim Jong Un recently signalled a possible willingness to improve ties, saying the two countries could “get along” if Washington accepted North Korea as a nuclear-armed state.
Despite that statement, relations between the two Koreas have continued to deteriorate.
Last month, Kim Jong Un declared that North Korea had “absolutely no business dealing with South Korea, its most hostile entity, and will permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots.”
Tensions have been further heightened by the ongoing joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington.
The annual drills, known as “Freedom Shield,” began earlier this week and involve approximately 18,000 South Korean troops. The exercises are scheduled to continue until March 19.
North Korea, which invaded South Korea in 1950 and triggered the Korean War, has consistently condemned such military drills, arguing they are rehearsals for an invasion.
Earlier this week, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned that the joint exercises “may cause unimaginably terrible consequences.”
She said the drills were taking place at “a critical time when global security structure is collapsing rapidly, and wars break out in different parts of the world.”
Kim Yo Jong also blamed rising global instability on what she described as “the reckless acts of the outrageous international rogues.”
In addition, North Korea recently criticised the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, describing them as an “illegal act of aggression” and saying the action demonstrated what it called the “rogue” nature of the United States.
