North Korea fires suspected missile after rejecting US-South Korea drill cut

North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile towards the sea after the US and South Korea reduced joint drills. The move underscored Pyongyang's demand for bigger concessions even as Trump touted warm ties.

In Short

• Japan said the projectile was launched towards the sea on Thursday
• South Korean media reported the military tracked an unidentified east coast launch
• Washington and Seoul shortened Ulchi Freedom Shield after Trump's Pentagon order

North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile towards the sea on Thursday, according to Japan, a day after Pyongyang brushed aside a US decision to scale back military drills with South Korea in an apparent attempt to revive diplomacy.

The Japanese prime minister's office said it had detected the suspected launch but did not give further details. South Korean media, citing the military, reported that North Korea fired an unidentified projectile off its east coast.

On Wednesday, the South Korean and US militaries said they were reducing their 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises. US President Donald Trump had earlier ordered the Pentagon to "substantially reduce" the exercises just before they began on Monday. Trump cited what he described as a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea's refusal to support him over the war in Iran.

Later on Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of Kim Jong Un, dismissed Trump's overture, saying it was not even worthy of comment. "The provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won't change even though their duration and size were reduced," she said. "If the US calculates that it can propagate its recent measure as the one of so-called good faith, they will not get the desired answer." She also referred to a series of other military drills carried out by the US and South Korea earlier this year, as well as South Korea's push to introduce nuclear-powered submarines.

Kim Yo Jong, however, stopped short of the fiery rhetoric often used by North Korea and said personal relations between her brother and Trump were "still excellent". Her remarks indicated that North Korea wanted to wait for Trump to make bigger concessions before returning to talks. She also denied Trump's claim that Kim Jong Un had responded to his request for a conversation.

Asked by reporters on Wednesday whether he would meet Kim Jong Un this year, Trump said, "Yeah, I will be." He did not answer a question on whether he was exchanging letters with Kim, but said he gets along with him. The developments came as tensions over military drills and diplomacy once again played out alongside North Korea's latest suspected missile launch.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends