North Korea launches approximately 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea amid U.S.-South Korea drill reduction
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that North Korea launched approximately 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area toward the country's eastern waters on Thursday around 5 p.m. local time. Japan's prime minister's office also detected the launches. South Korea's presidential national security council convened an emergency meeting and issued a statement urging North Korea to halt ballistic missile launches, which are banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The launches occurred one day after the U.S. and South Korea announced they were scaling back the Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercises, an 11-day annual drill that President Trump ordered the Pentagon to "substantially reduce." A Pentagon official said the drills were shortened from 10 days to five, with certain associated live-training events canceled or converted to simulations, and stated there would be "no degradation to U.S. training objectives."
Trump had cited his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea's refusal to support U.S. military operations in Iran as reasons for the reduction. On Sunday, Trump posted to Truth Social that the exercises were "costly" and sent a signal that was "totally inappropriate and hostile" toward a country he described as "unthreatening and respectful" during his presidency.
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of Kim Jong Un, dismissed the U.S. gesture the day before the launches. She said the overture was "not even worthy of comment" because "the provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won't change even though their duration and size were reduced." She added that if the U.S. considered the reduction an act of "good faith," it "will not get the desired answer." The Associated Press noted that Kim Yo Jong nonetheless refrained from typical fiery rhetoric, described personal relations between her brother and Trump as "still excellent," and denied Trump's claim that Kim Jong Un had responded to a request for a conversation — a signal, AP reported, that North Korea may be waiting for larger concessions before returning to talks.