North Korea Fires 10 Ballistic Missiles, Rejecting Trump Overture
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea launched a salvo of roughly 10 short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast Thursday, South Korea’s military reported, directly dismissing a diplomatic overture from the White House just hours after the U.S. ordered joint regional military exercises to be curtailed.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the simultaneous launches originating from the capital region near Pyongyang around 5:00 p.m. local time. The projectiles traveled eastward before coming down outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
The sudden show of force arrived a day after U.S. President Donald Trump instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the ongoing annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises conducted alongside South Korean forces. Trump cited his personal relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and expressed frustration over South Korea’s reluctance to offer military support for U.S. operations involving Iran.
The 11-day military exercise, originally scheduled through Aug. 27, was abruptly compressed to five days, wrapping up Friday.
Pyongyang’s reaction to the reduction was swift and dismissive. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of the North Korean leader and a senior official in the ruling Workers’ Party, issued a public statement Wednesday calling the U.S. decision unworthy of comment.
“The provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won’t change even though their duration and size were reduced,” Kim said, warning that Washington would not receive a favorable response by framing the schedule cut as a gesture of good faith.
South Korea’s Presidential National Security Council convened an emergency session Thursday following the launches, issuing a statement urging Pyongyang to immediately halt ballistic missile testing, which violates long-standing United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The episode marks North Korea’s 12th missile testing event of 2026 and highlights the deep friction remaining on the Korean Peninsula despite Washington’s willingness to scale back defense exercises.
South Korean defense officials confirmed they have elevated their surveillance and readiness posture while actively sharing real-time tracking data with military command centers in Washington and Tokyo.
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