North Korea fires off barrage of missiles hours after Trump says he plans to meet Kim

Original source (on modern site) | Article images: [1]

Pyongyang fired off a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, Tokyo and Seoul said, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year. 

The South Korean military said it had detected the launch of around 10 short-range missiles from the Pyongyang area toward the Sea of Japan, which Seoul calls the East Sea, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The Defense Ministry in Tokyo, meanwhile, said the North had fired off "multiple" ballistic missiles, with all traveling an estimated 320 kilometers and hitting a maximum altitude of 90 km before splashing down in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

A map released by Japan showed the missiles' flight paths appeared to hug North Korea's northeastern coast.

North Korea fired off the spate of weapons after Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that he would meet Kim this year. He did not offer further details.

But Kim's powerful sister appeared to pour cold water on Trump's push for reengagement.

In a report carried by state-run media Thursday, Kim Yo Jong said pointedly that she was "not aware" of Trump's claim that he was in communication with her brother, while also labeling the U.S. president's order earlier this week to scale down joint military exercises with South Korea as "one unworthy of comment." 

Trump has spent this week broadcasting his desire to meet with Kim Jong — but rekindling their "bromance" and turning these hopes into an actual return to talks will prove a daunting task for the U.S. president, analysts say.