Pyongyang launched a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles hours before the shortened US-South Korea exercise ended, while China's foreign minister urged Seoul to pursue strategic autonomy.
More than 10 short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Pyongyang region on Thursday evening flew about 300 km and fell into the sea east of the peninsula. South Korea's presidential office convened an emergency security meeting; Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back identified the weapons as 600 mm multiple rocket launchers capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads.[1]
The salvo came hours before the US-South Korea Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise ends on Friday; the drill had been cut from 11 days to 5 and its counterattack phase cancelled on an order from President Donald Trump. A day earlier Kim Yo Jong had called Washington's scale-back a disaster brought by Seoul's security outlook and denied reports of leader-to-leader contact with Trump. South Korea's presidential office called the launch a grave act violating UN Security Council resolutions and demanded North Korea halt further launches.[1]
China's foreign minister met President Lee Jae Myung and national security adviser Wi Sung-lac on Thursday, urging South Korea to avoid bloc confrontation and taking sides and to build genuine strategic autonomy. The trip was the minister's first official visit to South Korea in five years. A rational, pragmatic and positive policy toward China is entirely in line with South Korea's interests, he said.[2]
