North Korea fires barrage of missiles after Trump scales back drills

EAST SEA, 21 AUGUST 2026 —

The Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said North Korea launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters at 5 p.m. on Thursday, each flying roughly 300 km.

South Korea’s military said the launches came from the North’s capital region and added that Seoul had tightened surveillance while sharing data with the U.S. and Japan. The presidential national security council issued a statement urging Pyongyang to halt the tests.

Japan’s prime minister’s office had earlier detected a suspected missile launch, the second flare-up in two days after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Aug. 18.

Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Monday to cut the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises by about half, dropping some field training. He cited what he described as a good relationship with Kim Jong Un and Seoul’s refusal to back Washington over the war in Iran.

Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s influential sister, dismissed the move on Wednesday. “The provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won’t change even though their duration and size were reduced,” she said in a statement.

She said Pyongyang would not accept Trump’s claim of good faith and denied that Kim Jong Un had responded to a request for talks. She noted that personal relations between the two leaders remain “still excellent,” a phrasing that suggests North Korea is waiting for bigger concessions before returning to negotiations.

When reporters asked on Wednesday if he would meet Kim Jong Un this year, Trump replied, “Yeah, I will be.” He declined to say whether the two sides are exchanging letters but said he gets along with the North Korean leader.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield is one of the largest annual drills conducted by the U.S. and South Korea to sharpen their response to potential aggression from the North. Washington and Seoul describe the exercises as defensive, but Pyongyang routinely calls them an invasion rehearsal and responds with missile tests.

Before the current drills began, North Korea accused the allies of plotting more provocative activities this summer and vowed a “new level of deterrent.” Days earlier, it fired two ballistic missiles into the sea, the first such launches since late June.

Trump’s earlier diplomacy with Kim collapsed in 2019 after disagreements over how much sanctions relief Pyongyang should receive in exchange for limited denuclearization steps. Since then, Kim has shunned talks, accelerated weapons modernization and deepened ties with Russia.

Kim has repeatedly said he will not put his nuclear program back on the negotiating table. Experts say his leverage has grown since the 2018–2019 summits with Trump and that he may aim to secure international recognition as a nuclear state in return for only minor steps toward disarmament.

Related: ROK Armed Forces · Donald Trump · East Sea