NK fires unidentified projectile toward East Sea: S. Korean military
North Korea fired an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea on Thursday, South Korea's military said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch, without providing further details. The latest launch took place about a week after Pyongyang fired a short-range ballistic missile eastward on Aug. 12. The missile launch came as South Korea and the United States are conducting their…
North Korea launched a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles towards the East Sea on Thursday, disregarding a recent offer of reconciliation from U.S. President Donald Trump. The Joint Chiefs of Staff detected approximately a dozen missiles fired from Pyongyang around 5 p.m., with further analysis ongoing in collaboration with the United States.
The military has intensified surveillance and vigilance for potential additional launches while maintaining a full readiness posture in coordination with the U.S. and Japan. The latest missile launch follows Trump's recent suggestion of resuming dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, whom he had met three times during his first term in 2018 and 2019.
Nuclear negotiations have been inactive following their 2019 meeting in Hanoi, which concluded without an agreement. Trump recently proposed scaling down military drills with South Korea, citing that they could send an inappropriate and hostile message to Pyongyang. South Korea and the U.S. declared on Wednesday that they would shorten the ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise by half, concluding the annual drills on Friday.
North Korea has strongly condemned the drills as rehearsals for invasion, typically responding with a series of weapons tests in protest. Despite Trump's offer of reconciliation, Pyongyang has rejected it. Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of Kim Jong-un, stated in a statement that North Korea has no interest in reducing the allies' military exercises, deeming them unworthy of comment.
Following the missile launch, the presidential national security office convened a meeting with officials from the defense ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff to review South Korea's response and evaluate the impact on national security. The office emphasized the necessity to maintain a thorough readiness posture and urged North Korea to halt such provocations, which violate U.N.
Security Council resolutions. The missile launch occurred about a week after Pyongyang fired a short-range ballistic missile eastward on August 12, and another short-range ballistic missile on August 6.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
