North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles amid US-South Korea military drills

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea launched about 10 ballistic missiles into the Sea of ​​Japan on Saturday, days after it warned of “dire consequences” for ongoing military exercises between South Korea and the United States.

North Korea recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with South Korea, a U.S. security ally, and described recent peace efforts as a “clumsy and deceptive farce.”

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, “At around 1:20 p.m. on this day, the South Korean military detected about 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea.”

The missile is reported to have flown about 350 km. South Korean and U.S. authorities added that they are analyzing the exact specifications.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff added, “The South Korean military is prepared to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation.”

Japan’s Ministry of Defense also confirmed that North Korea launched several ballistic missiles that reached a maximum altitude of about 80 km and fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near the east coast of the Korean Peninsula.

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The Blue House condemned the launch as a “provocation that violates UN Security Council resolutions” and urged North Korea to immediately stop it.

In addition, as this launch was during the ROK-U.S. joint military training period, relevant organizations were instructed to strengthen their readiness posture.

The launch came hours after Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said U.S. President Donald Trump thought a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “would be good.”

Washington has led efforts to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program for decades, but summits, sanctions and diplomatic pressure have had little impact.

The Trump administration has been pushing to resume high-level talks with Pyongyang in recent months, with the possibility of a summit with Kim Jong-un during the president’s visit to Beijing scheduled for the end of March this year.

During his trip to Asia last October, President Trump said he was ‘100%’ open to meeting Kim Jong-un, but North Korea did not respond to this.

After largely ignoring such overtures for months, Kim Jong-un recently said the two countries “could get along well” if the United States accepted North Korea’s nuclear status.