At that time, Japan said it could have been a ballistic missile.
“North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile,” the Prime Minister’s office reported in a post on the social network “X”.
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This happened just a few hours after US President Donald Trump stated that he would meet later this year with Pyongyang leader Kim Jong Un.
He also emphasized the need to reach an agreement with Kim Jong Un. In addition, he gave an unusually specific assessment, stating that Pyongyang currently has 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons.
South Korea’s defense minister said on Thursday that North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is preliminarily estimated to consist of between 80 and 120 units.
Trump’s sudden attention to Kim Jong Un and the decision to reduce the scale of joint US and South Korean military exercises caused concern among allies in Asia. This sparked speculation that the country’s leader is seeking a foreign policy victory amid a stalled war with Iran.
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On Wednesday, influential Kim Jong Un’s sister said she knew nothing about reports regarding her brother’s communication with Trump.
However, Kim Yo Jong said that her brother still cherishes “good memories and feelings” for Trump, and the connection between the two leaders remains excellent.
On Wednesday, South Korean military representatives informed that the exercises will end this Friday, not on August 27 as originally planned, “at the initiative of the US side”.
