North Korea fires multiple missiles ahead of Trump’s South Korea summit, less than a week after Hyunmoo-5 deployment announcement

South Korea's military has said that North Korea fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, October 22, its first such launch in months. The move comes just a week before key Asia-Pacific leaders, including US President Donald Trump, are set to arrive in South Korea for a high-profile summit.

This is the first missile launch since South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung took office in June. North Korea’s last ballistic missile test was on May 8, when it fired multiple short-range missiles from its east coast.

Also Read: South Korea to deploy its most powerful non-nuclear ‘bunker buster’ missile, Hyunmoo-5 that can reach China or Russia to counter North Korean nukes

Seoul confirms short-range missile launch

According to Seoul’s military, it had “detected several projectiles, believed to be short-range ballistic missiles,” France 24 reported, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The missiles were fired around 8:10 a.m. local time (2310 GMT Tuesday) from an area south of Pyongyang and flew approximately 350 kilometers (217 miles), the South Korean military added. Reuters said, citing a military official, that the missiles had fallen inland.

Trump, Kim, and Xi meeting

President Trump has expressed hope to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, possibly this year, following several meetings during his first term. He is also expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

North Korea’s state media has signaled that Kim remains open to future negotiations, though he has stressed the United States must drop what he calls its “delusional” demand for Pyongyang to relinquish its nuclear arsenal.

Japan responds

Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said there was no immediate impact on Japanese security from the North Korean launch and that Tokyo was sharing real-time information with the United States, Reuters reported.

South Korea’s bunker buster: Hyunmoo-5

The North Korean missile launch comes just days after Seoul announced it has begun mass-producing the Hyunmoo-5, described as a “monster missile” due to its roughly 8-ton warhead. South Korea plans to deploy the ballistic weapon to operational units by the end of this year. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back announced the development on October 17, emphasizing that it will help maintain a “balance of terror” with North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

In an interview with Yonhap News Agency released on Friday, Ahn also provided his first detailed assessment of North Korea’s new long-range nuclear missile and reiterated South Korea’s goal of achieving the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington by 2030.