Seoul, August 20, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
North Korea fired roughly a dozen short-range ballistic missiles towards the East Sea on Thursday, hours after the United States signalled a willingness to resume dialogue with Pyongyang, including a possible meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missiles were launched from the Pyongyang area at around 5 pm. Further analysis of the launches was underway in coordination with the United States.
The South Korean military said it had strengthened surveillance and maintained readiness for additional launches while sharing information with the US and Japan.
“Under a staunch South Korea-US combined defence posture, our military is closely monitoring various North Korean activities as we maintain the capability and readiness to overwhelmingly respond to any provocation,” the JCS said.
The latest launches came after Trump renewed his willingness to engage with Kim. The two leaders met three times during Trump’s first term, in 2018 and 2019, during a period of intensive nuclear diplomacy that ended without an agreement after their 2019 Hanoi summit.
Trump had earlier this week signalled a possible opening to Pyongyang, saying he had instructed the Pentagon to reduce the scale of military drills with South Korea, which he described as sending an “inappropriate and hostile” message to North Korea.
Seoul and Washington subsequently announced that the ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise would be shortened by half and conclude on Friday. North Korea has routinely condemned the annual drills as preparations for an invasion and responded with weapons tests.
Trump said during a White House press availability on Wednesday that he expected to meet Kim later this year. He also claimed North Korea possesses “57 very powerful” nuclear weapons, a specific figure he has not previously cited publicly for the country’s nuclear arsenal.
Pyongyang, however, showed little interest in the latest US overture. Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leader’s sister and a senior figure in the regime, said Wednesday that the reduction in the US-South Korea exercise was “unworthy of comment”.
Following Thursday’s launches, South Korea’s presidential national security office convened a meeting with officials from the Defence Ministry and JCS to assess the situation and its implications for national security.
The office called on North Korea to halt provocations that violate UN Security Council resolutions and stressed the need to maintain a strong readiness posture while the UFS exercise remains underway.
Thursday’s launches followed a short-range ballistic missile launch on August 12 and another on August 6.
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