North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, just days before President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders in South Korea.
South Korea’s military said the missiles, the first launched by the neighboring country in five months, came from an area south of Pyongyang and flew about 350 kilometers (220 miles) to the northeast. The missiles did not land in the sea, the military added.
Trump will head to Asia at the end of this week, which will be his first trip to the region during his second term. He plans to first go to Malaysia for a regional summit, then head to Japan before traveling to South Korea for a meeting on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
Ahead of the summit, the president is expected to visit the South Korean city of Gyeongju for bilateral meetings with leaders including Xi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
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North Korea, whose leader Kim Jong Un is pictured at left, carried out missile launches just days ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to South Korea. (China Daily via Reuters/Korea News Service via AP; Ahn Young-joon/AP; Alex Brandon/AP)
South Korea’s military said Wednesday it remains prepared to repel any provocations from North Korea based on its alliance with the United States.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also told reporters that Tokyo was communicating closely with Washington and Seoul, including sharing real-time missile warning data.
North Korea’s ballistic missile launches on Wednesday were the first of their kind since the country tested short-range systems on May 8 that simulated nuclear counterattacks against U.S. and South Korean forces.
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A North Korean government photo shows a new intercontinental ballistic missile, called the Hwasong-20, during a military parade on October 10, 2025 in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Earlier this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un showed off a new long-range intercontinental missile during a military parade in Pyongyang attended by foreign leaders.
The yet-to-be-tested Hwasong-20 was described by the state-owned Korean Central News Agency as being the “most powerful nuclear strategic weapon system.”
The government also displayed ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and shorter-range supersonic missiles during the military parade, which marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party.
Kim said during the parade that the military “must continue to evolve into an invincible force that eliminates all threats.”
A TV screen shows North Korea’s missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
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Foreign dignitaries at the parade included Chinese Premier Li Qiang, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and To Lam, the head of the Vietnamese Communist Party.
