North Korea fires ballistic missiles as Trump readies for Asia trip

North Korea fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, a week before a key Asia-Pacific leaders’ meeting in South Korea.

It was the first launch of ballistic missiles since May by Pyongyang, which has defied a United Nations Security Council ban on the weapons.

It was also the first such launch since Lee Jae Myung was elected president in South Korea, with a platform of engagement with North Korea.

Lee and US President Donald Trump are expected to meet in South Korea next week at a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Trump is also expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

South Korea detected several projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles fired from an area near North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, in a northeasterly direction early on Wednesday, its Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the Pentagon said the launches did not pose an immediate threat to US personnel.

“The United States condemns these actions and calls on the DPRK to refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts,” the Pentagon said.

Lee and Trump have discussed the idea of trying to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when the American president visits the South, but Pyongyang has not publicly responded to the idea.

US officials considered, but never confirmed, a trip to the demilitarised zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

South Korea has suspended tours of the Joint Security Area (JSA) at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom until early November, but has not confirmed any plans for a meeting with Kim.

Trump and Kim held three summits during Trump’s 2017 to 2021 first term and exchanged a number of letters that Trump called “beautiful,” before the unprecedented diplomatic effort broke down over U.S. demands that Kim give up his nuclear weapons.

In September, Kim expressed “fond memories” of Trump saying there was no reason to avoid talks with the U.S. if Washington stopped insisting his country give up nuclear weapons, but he would never abandon the nuclear arsenal to end sanctions.

“It is not at all inconceivable that Donald Trump could here in Washington, DC, say, ‘Denuclearisation, that’s our goal, that’s our policy’ and then go up to Panmunjom and say, ‘Oh, you know, Kim Jong Un is a nuclear power,’” said Victor Cha, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“Even if it’s a short meeting, in the broader scheme of things, with all that the United States has to deal with these days, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.”

Andrew Yeo, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said while a Trump-Kim meeting was not impossible, the U.S. president’s known schedule and timing might make it unlikely.

“Trump’s only there for one night, two days, and because of the Xi-Trump meeting, that’s probably taking up all the bandwidth or resources of the U.S. government,” he said.

Nuclear-armed North Korea has steadily upgraded its missile capabilities over the past decade defying multiple United Nations sanctions, having test-launched long-range ballistic missiles with potential ranges to strike the U.S. mainland if fired at a trajectory calibrated for that purpose.

South Korea’s military said it had detected movements ahead of the launch, then tracked the projectiles after they were fired and flew about 350 km the military said.

The missiles appeared to have fallen inland, a military official separately said.

Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said there was no impact on Japan’s security from the North Korean missile launch and Tokyo was sharing real-time information with the US.

North Korea last launched ballistic missiles on May 8 when it fired multiple short-range missiles from its east coast.

North Korea showcased its latest intercontinental ballistic missile this month at a parade attended by the Chinese premier.

Reuters