North Korea fires ballistic missiles as US-South Korea drills near end

After military drills between Seoul and Washington that US President Donald Trump is seeking to curb, south Korea has condemned North Korea's launch ⁠of more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles.

Key points

• The North Korean missiles flew around 300km (186 miles) toward the sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff remarked.
• The launch came after North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, on Wednesday condemned the ⁠US-South Korea military drills.
• Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman ⁠Maria Zakharova ⁠on Thursday ‌remarked Moscow "can only welcome" the US decision ⁠to cut ⁠back its ⁠participation in military ⁠exercises ⁠with South Korea.
• "The ballistic missile launch is a grave act ‌that violates UN Security Council resolutions, " Seoul remarked, calling on North Korea to immediately halt further missile launches.
• As being able to deliver tactical nuclear warheads, pyongyang has previously described the 600 mm system, known externally as the KN-25.

South Korea's presidential office on Thursday convened an emergency security session with defence ministry and military office-holders after North Korea fired missiles from the Pyongyang area toward the sea east of the Korean Peninsula, the office noted in an official note.

After an order from Trump to scale them back, the latest launches from nuclear-armed North Korea come as South Korea and the US held a shorter edition of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises.

Pyongyang has long condemned US-South Korea joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion, often staging missile launches around the drills.

In practice, the North Korean missiles flew around 300km (186 miles) toward the sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff remarked.

South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back informed lawmakers that the short-range ballistic missiles are believed to be 600 mm multiple rocket launchers, adding that Seoul has tracked them as they could be potentially deployed near its border with the South.

As being able to deliver tactical nuclear warheads, pyongyang has previously described the 600 mm system, known externally as the KN-25. Ahn remarked earlier in the day that ⁠North Korea possesses between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads. Trump reduces drills in bid to court Pyongyang.

For context, the launch came after North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, on Wednesday condemned the ⁠US-South Korea military drills.

Trump cut the drills short – they are now set to end Friday – and remarked he wanted to revive diplomacy with leader Kim Jong Un.

Hours after the launches, Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, described Trump's decision as "an evident disaster brought by the unrealistic and anachronistic security outlook" pursued by Seoul, arguing the South had a "master-and-servant" relationship with the US.

Trump remarked on Monday he had received a response from Kim Jong Un after scaling back the military exercises. Nevertheless, Kim's sister on Wednesday stated she was unaware of any recent communications between the two countries' leaders, maintaining the "hostile policy" of the US towards North Korea had ⁠not changed.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. This person visited Seoul this week, pressed South Korea ‌not ‌to take sides between Beijing and Washington, saying the US should abandon its "hostile" policy toward North Korea to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

While sparking speculation that he was seeking a foreign policy win as the Iran war stalls, trump's sudden focus on Kim and his scaling back of joint US-South Korean military drills have alarmed Asian allies.

For now, north Korea fires ballistic missiles as US remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.