North Korea fires ballistic missile after US-South Korea drills are scaled back
North Korea on Sunday launched a short-range ballistic missile towards the sea, South Korea's government said, in the latest in a recent series of weapons displays by Pyongyang. South Korea's presidential office said the weapon was fired from the eastern coastal Wonsan area, while Seoul convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the launch.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff had earlier said North Korea fired an unidentified projectile off its east coast, without giving further details. The launch came as North Korea continues weapons tests despite US President Donald Trump recently scaling back a military exercise with South Korea in what appeared to be an effort to revive diplomacy with leader Kim Jong Un.
Earlier this month, North Korea said it had carried out a joint live-fire drill involving missiles, artillery and drones, which it claimed showed "huge destructive power". The test involved firing different types of weapons at the same time and was likely aimed at developing the ability to overwhelm South Korean and US air defences.
The September 12 weapons tests took place a day after the United States, South Korea and Japan ended a five-day trilateral military drill that North Korea sees as a provocation. Kim has been focused on expanding his nuclear arsenal after his earlier high-stakes diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019.
Last month, Trump ordered the Pentagon to "substantially reduce" the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise with South Korea, citing what he described as a good relationship with Kim, who has called such drills invasion rehearsals. But Kim's sister and senior official Kim Yo Jong dismissed Trump's overture, saying shortening the drill would not change its "provocative, aggressive nature". North Korea's military later launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea, apparently following through on an earlier threat to respond to the US-South Korean drill.
The latest launch adds to North Korea's recent run of weapons tests, which have continued alongside renewed tensions over joint military exercises involving the US and its allies.
