North Korea Test-Fires Missiles Off Its East Coast: Report

North Korea test-fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported.

Why It Matters

The reported missile test comes days before U.S. President Donald Trump is due to visit South Korea for a regional conference.

North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs are a major source of tension with the United States but the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, has ruled out denuclearization, instead calling for rapid expansion of the atomic arsenal in the face of what he sees as threats from the U.S. and its Asian allies, South Korea and Japan.

What To Know

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a brief statement that the launches had been detected in a northeastward direction from North Korea’s southern North Hwanghae Province, Yonhap reported.

“Our military has stepped up monitoring in preparation for (the possibility of) additional launches and is maintaining a steadfast readiness posture while sharing relevant information with the U.S. and Japan,” the South Korean military said in the release.

It was the first purported launch of ballistic missiles since May by Pyongyang, which has defied an international ban backed by the U.S. and South Korea on such weapons development, Reuters reported.

North Korea does not announce its missile tests or report them on its state-run media.

Trump is due to visit South Korea for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on October 31 and November 1.

There has been speculation that Trump might take advantage of his trip to South Korea to arrange a meeting with North Korea’s leader. Trump and Kim met three times during Trump’s first term but the U.S. president’s efforts to press Kim to agree to denuclearize in exchange for sanctions relief failed to produce any breakthroughs.

Since beginning his second term, Trump has said he would be open to reviving talks with Kim, while Kim said last month he saw no reason not to negotiate with the United States if it dropped its demand that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters that none of the purported North Korean missiles reached Japan’s territorial waters or exclusive economic zone and that there had been no reports of damage, according to the Associated Press. She said that Tokyo was closely communicating with Washington and Seoul, including by sharing real-time missile warning data.

What People Are Saying

Trump, to reporters in the Oval Office on August 26, in reference in Kim: “I get along with him really well. I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong Un in the appropriate future.”