North Korea Tests Missiles as Trump Heads to South Korea

By Staff, Agencies

North Korea said Wednesday it fired sea-to-surface cruise missiles into its western waters, in another display of its growing military capabilities as US President Donald Trump travels to South Korea for a regional summit.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency [KCNA] described Tuesday’s tests as a success, saying the missiles flew for more than two hours before accurately striking targets.

The agency claimed that the weapons would contribute to expanding the operational sphere of the country’s nuclear-armed military.

South Korea’s military didn’t immediately confirm whether it had detected the tests.

The North Korean report came hours before an expected summit between Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the city of Gyeongju, where South Korea is hosting this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings.

KCNA said senior official Pak Jong Chon attended the tests and inspected training on North Korea’s new destroyers, key assets in Kim Jong Un’s naval buildup.

North Korea’s latest launches follow last week’s short-range ballistic missile tests of a new hypersonic system to boost its nuclear deterrent.

Trump is interested in meeting Kim during his South Korea visit, but officials say a Trump–Kim meeting is unlikely; he will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

North Korea has avoided talks with Washington and Seoul since Kim’s 2019 nuclear diplomacy with Trump collapsed.

Kim’s top foreign policy focus is now Russia, sending troops and equipment to support Putin in Ukraine and framing North Korea as part of a “new Cold War” against the US-led West.

Last month, Kim said he won’t resume talks with the US unless Washington drops its denuclearization demand, despite Trump’s calls for new diplomacy.