North Korea Fires Barrage of Missiles as US Drills End
North Korea fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast, South Korea’s military said, as scaled-back US-South Korean exercises neared their end. The launches came hours after President Trump said he expected to meet Kim Jong Un this year. Seoul called an emergency security meeting and condemned the tests as a “grave” breach of UN resolutions. The North is estimated to hold up to 120 nuclear warheads.
The timing was pointed: a show of force as the allies wound down drills that Mr Trump had already ordered cut short, and just as he floated another summit with the North Korean leader. Pyongyang has learned that provocation and diplomacy can run in parallel, extracting attention and concessions while steadily expanding an arsenal now measured in scores of warheads. For Seoul, the reduced US exercises and the president’s warmth towards Mr Kim revive an old fear of being sidelined in talks about its own security. A leaders’ meeting, if it happens, would hand Mr Kim the legitimacy he craves. Watch whether a summit materialises and what the North demands in return.