South Korea condemned North Korea's launch of more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles, which came as the joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington were nearing an end under a reduced scale requested by US President Donald Trump.
South Korea's presidential office said on August 21 that it convened an emergency security meeting with defense and military officials after North Korea fired missiles from the Pyongyang area toward the sea east of the Korean Peninsula. Seoul officials called it a "serious act violating UN Security Council resolutions" and urged Pyongyang to immediately stop further launches.
According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missiles flew about 300 kilometers out to sea. South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back told lawmakers that the missiles were believed to be 600mm multiple launch rocket systems, also known as KN-25, which North Korea has previously described as capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads. Ahn also said North Korea currently possesses between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads.
The launches came after Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, condemned the US-South Korea joint exercises on August 20. Trump had asked for the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, scheduled to end on August 22, to be scaled back and said he wanted to resume diplomacy with Kim Jong Un.
Hours after the launches, Kim Yo Jong called Trump's decision a "clear disaster stemming from Seoul's unrealistic and outdated security perspective" and suggested South Korea has a "master-servant" relationship with the United States. Earlier, Trump claimed he had received a response from Kim Jong Un after reducing the drills, but Kim Yo Jong denied any recent contact between the two leaders and reiterated that Washington's "hostile policy" toward North Korea remained unchanged.
The same day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova expressed Moscow's "only approval" of the US decision to reduce the scope of its joint exercises with South Korea. Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his visit to Seoul this week, urged South Korea not to take sides between Beijing and Washington and proposed that the United States abandon its "hostile" policy to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Trump's sudden focus on the North Korean leader and the reduction of joint drills has raised concerns among allied officials in Asia, along with speculation that he is seeking a foreign policy victory amid the stalled war in Iran.
