North Korea has fired approximately 10 unidentified ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over South Korea-US military exercises.

 

Seoul’s military reported that the missiles were launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea. The JCS confirmed the launch in an official statement. 

 

Japan’s defence ministry also verified the launch, posting on its official X account that “what is possibly a ballistic missile was launched from North Korea.”

 

The missile launches follow North Korea’s rejection of recent diplomatic efforts by Seoul, describing them as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.”

 

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said earlier that US President Donald Trump believes a meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un would be “good.” 

 

Washington DC has maintained efforts for decades to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear programme, but summits, sanctions, and diplomatic pressure have had limited impact.

 

The Trump administration has sought to revive high-level talks with Pyongyang, aiming for a possible summit with Kim Jong Un later this year, potentially during Trump’s April visit to Beijing. 

 

During an Asia trip in October, Trump had said he was “100 percent” open to meeting Kim Jong Un, a remark that received no response from North Korea. Pyongyang recently suggested that the two countries could “get along” if the United States accepted its nuclear status.

 

Last month, Kim Jong Un stated that North Korea had “absolutely no business dealing with South Korea, its most hostile entity, and will permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots.”

 

Seoul and Washington began their springtime military drills, “Freedom Shield,” on Monday, involving about 18,000 South Korean troops. The exercises will continue until March 19. North Korea has long criticised such drills, calling them rehearsals for invasion.

 

Earlier this week, Kim Yo Jong, a senior official and sister of Kim Jong Un, warned that the joint drills “may cause unimaginably terrible consequences.” She added that they are taking place “at a critical time when global security structure is collapsing rapidly and wars break out in different parts of the world,” and said the situation was caused by “the reckless acts of the outrageous international rogues.”

 

Pyongyang also condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran, calling it an “illegal act of aggression” and citing it as evidence of the “rogue” nature of the United States.