North Korea Fires Missile Barrage as Trump Scales Back Drills

North Korea launched a barrage of roughly 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Thursday, according to South Korea's military. The launches, detected from the capital region around 5 p.m. local time, came a day after Washington announced it would reduce the scale of joint military exercises with Seoul.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said surveillance has been strengthened and information is being closely coordinated with the United States and Japan. The presidential national security council convened an emergency meeting and urged Pyongyang to halt launches that are banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions. Japan's prime minister's office also reported detecting a suspected missile launch.

The development follows U.S. President Donald Trump's order to the Pentagon to "substantially reduce" the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, which began Monday. Trump cited his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul's stance on the war in Iran as reasons for the move.

Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un's influential sister, dismissed the U.S. overture, saying the reduced drills remained provocative and aggressive. She warned that Washington would not get the desired response if it expected the gesture to be seen as good faith. However, she avoided the fiery rhetoric typical of North Korean statements and described personal ties between her brother and Trump as "still excellent," suggesting Pyongyang may be waiting for larger concessions before resuming talks.

She also denied Trump's claim that Kim Jong Un had responded to a request for conversation. Asked Wednesday whether he would meet Kim this year, Trump said, "Yeah, I will be," while declining to say whether they are exchanging letters.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield is an annual U.S.-South Korea exercise meant to improve readiness against potential North Korean aggression. Washington and Seoul call the drills defensive, while Pyongyang views them as invasion rehearsals and often responds with weapons tests.

Before this month's drills, North Korea accused the allies of planning more provocative exercises and vowed a "new level of a deterrent." Days before the exercises began, the North fired two ballistic missiles in its first such launches since late June.

Trump's earlier diplomacy with Kim collapsed in 2019 over disagreements on sanctions relief and denuclearization steps. Kim has since avoided talks, modernized his arsenal, and deepened cooperation with Russia, saying he will not put his nuclear program back on the negotiating table. Experts believe Kim now holds more leverage than during his 2018-2019 summits and may seek recognition as a nuclear state in exchange for only limited concessions.