SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles on Wednesday — its first such test in months — just a week before world leaders, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, are scheduled to arrive in South Korea for a summit.
According to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, “several projectiles, believed to be short-range ballistic missiles,” were detected around 8:10 a.m. (2310 GMT Tuesday) from an area south of Pyongyang. The missiles reportedly flew approximately 350 kilometers (217 miles) before landing in the sea.
This marks North Korea’s first missile launch since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung took office in June.
Trump, who is expected to visit Seoul on October 29 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, has expressed hopes of meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again, following multiple summits during his previous term.
Meanwhile, Pyongyang’s state media has hinted that Kim remains open to future dialogue — but only if Washington drops what it calls its “delusional” demand for the North to abandon its nuclear arsenal.
Earlier this month, North Korea unveiled its “most powerful” intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-20, during a military parade attended by senior Russian and Chinese officials. The regime claimed the missile’s range “knows no bounds.”
In September, Kim oversaw the ninth and final test of a solid-fuel engine designed for long-range nuclear missiles, signaling that a full intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch could be imminent.
Analyst Park Won-gon of Ewha Womans University said the timing of the latest launch was “a response to Trump and his recent moves,” adding that Kim was “asserting his regime’s presence during an event hosted by Seoul, as he’s done before.”
North Korea has long tested long-range missiles it claims can reach the U.S. mainland, a central point of contention in Washington-Pyongyang relations. Talks between the two sides collapsed in 2019 during the Hanoi summit, after disagreements over the scale of denuclearization and sanctions relief.
Despite the tensions, Kim recently expressed “fond memories” of his earlier meetings with Trump, suggesting he would consider another meeting if the U.S. “abandons its delusional obsession with denuclearisation” and seeks “peaceful coexistence.”
