North Korea fired roughly ten short-range ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area into the sea off its east coast on Thursday, South Korea's military said, in one of the North's largest single-day missile tests of the year and a pointed reply to a week of overtures from Washington.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the launches around 5 p.m. local time and said the missiles traveled roughly 300 kilometers (185 miles) before splashing down outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back told lawmakers the weapons are believed to be 600mm multiple rocket launchers of the KN-25 type — a system Pyongyang has previously said is capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads, according to Al Jazeera's report on the launches.

A pointed reply to Washington

The barrage landed one day after Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's influential sister, dismissed a U.S.-ordered scale-back of the annual "Ulchi Freedom Shield" exercises with South Korea, insisting the drills remained "provocative" regardless of their reduced size — even as she conceded that Donald Trump's personal rapport with her brother remained "still excellent," per NBC News' account of Seoul's assessment. Hours before the missiles flew, Trump told reporters he expects to meet Kim again before the end of the year, though he declined to confirm reports of exchanged letters between the two leaders.

THE DRILLS' PROVOCATIVE, AGGRESSIVE NATURE WON'T CHANGE

South Korea's presidential National Security Council convened an emergency meeting after the launches and called on Pyongyang to halt activity that violates United Nations Security Council resolutions banning North Korean ballistic missile tests. Japan's government said it had also detected "a suspected missile launch" and was assessing the impact. The South's Joint Chiefs said they had "bolstered" surveillance and were coordinating closely with the U.S. and Japanese militaries, according to the Korea Herald's coverage of the domestic reaction.

Thursday's test is among the North's largest known missile launches of the year and comes as Ulchi Freedom Shield, this year's joint US-South Korea exercise, winds down after a Trump-ordered reduction in scope. Pyongyang has for decades cited the annual drills as a rehearsal for invasion, even as Washington and Seoul describe them as defensive. It fits a pattern: Pyongyang has carried out a string of missile tests through 2026, even as Trump has floated resuming the personal, summit-style diplomacy that produced three meetings with Kim during his first term.

No casualties or damage were reported, and none of the missiles are believed to have entered Japanese or South Korean territory. Still, the launch complicates the diplomatic picture Trump has been trying to paint: watchers will be looking to see whether it derails, or is simply background noise to, his stated plan for a fresh face-to-face with Kim later this year, as detailed in the Associated Press wire report.

Pyongyang had not issued an official statement explaining Thursday's launch as of publication. South Korean officials said they would continue monitoring for further activity as the joint exercises conclude in the coming days.