North Korea touts missile exams as Trump visits South Korea

North Korea stated on Wednesday (October 29, 2025) its latest test-firings of sea-to-surface cruise missiles had been profitable, in one other show of its rising navy capabilities as U.S. President Donald Trump visits South Korea.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency stated the missiles fired Tuesday flew for greater than two hours earlier than precisely placing targets in its western waters. It stated the weapons would contribute to increasing the operational sphere of the nation’s nuclear-armed navy.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff stated the navy had detected the North Korean launch preparations and that the cruise missiles had been fired within the North’s northwestern waters at round 3 pm on Tuesday (October 28).

The joint chiefs stated South Korea and the United States had been analysing the weapons and sustaining a mixed defence readiness able to a “dominant response” towards any North Korean provocation.

The North Korean report got here hours earlier than an anticipated summit between Mr. Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung within the metropolis of Gyeongju, the place South Korea is internet hosting this yr’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conferences.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Japan to South Korea, Mr. Trump downplayed the North Korean launches.

“He’s been launching missiles for many years, proper?” he stated, apparently referring to Kim Jong Un. Mr. Trump reiterated he nonetheless needs to satisfy with Mr. Kim, whom he met thrice in 2018 and 2019 earlier than their diplomacy derailed over disagreements on US-led sanctions towards the North.

“We had a very good understanding of one another,” Trump stated.

KCNA stated the exams had been attended by senior navy official Pak Jong Chon, who additionally inspected coaching for sailors aboard North Korea’s newly developed destroyers Choe Hyon and Kang Kon, which chief Kim Jong Un has described as key belongings in his efforts to strengthen the navy.

North Korea’s newest launches adopted short-range ballistic missile exams final week that it stated concerned a brand new hypersonic system designed to strengthen its nuclear conflict deterrent.

During his South Korean go to, Trump is scheduled to satisfy with Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, South Korean officers have stated a Trump-Kim assembly is unlikely.

North Korea has shunned any type of talks with Washington and Seoul since Mr. Kim’s high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with Mr. Trump fell aside in 2019 throughout the American president’s first time period.

Mr. Kim’s prime overseas coverage precedence is now Russia. In latest months, he has despatched hundreds of troops and enormous portions of navy tools to assist gas President Vladimir Putin’s conflict in Ukraine, whereas embracing the thought of a “new Cold War” and positions his nation as a part of a united entrance towards the US-led West.

Last month, Kim reiterated he would not return to talks with the United States until Washington drops its demand for North Korea’s denuclearization, after Trump repeatedly expressed his hopes for brand new diplomacy.