North Korea launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military announced on Thursday.
The escalation came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un in the next few months to strengthen existing relations with North Korea. Trump said it was important to “get along” with Kim, adding that North Korea has 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons. But South Korea said there are about 80 to 120 of them.
Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s sister, said on Wednesday that her brother has an “excellent” relationship with Trump. However, she said she was unaware of any recent communication between them, despite the U.S. president suggesting otherwise.
Earlier this week, Trump said he ordered the Pentagon to scale back “inappropriate and hostile” military drills with South Korea, hours before the exercises began. The exercises, which are designed to prepare for a possible attack by North Korea, were cut short as a result. Despite this, they received stiff criticism from Pyongyang, which labelled the drills as rehearsals for invasion.
The missile launches may be intended to strengthen Pyongyang’s bargaining position ahead of any Trump–Kim meeting, signaling that North Korea will not trade military restraint for dialogue without further concessions from Washington. Trump’s sudden focus on Kim may indicate he is searching for a foreign policy win amid a complicated war conducted by the United States in Iran. But this results in mixed signals from the United States, which may strengthen South Korea’s desire to boost its military independence.
