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North Korea test-fired cruise missiles in another display of its growing military capabilities just as Donald Trump and other world leaders are set to gather in South Korea for regional meetings. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said the sea-to-surface cruise missiles fired to the west of the Korean peninsula on Tuesday flew for more than two hours before accurately striking targets in its western waters. It said the weapons would contribute to expanding the operational sphere of the country’s nuclear-armed military. The missiles were fired vertically and flew about 7,800 seconds, or around 2 hours 10 minutes, along a preset route to hit the target, KCNA said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was not in attendance, according to KCNA. Mr Trump is due to arrive in the South Korean city of Gyeongju on Wednesday to join other heads of state and business leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum for various summits and meetings. He is also expected to hold talks with the Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military had detected the North Korean launch preparations and that the cruise missiles were fired in the North’s northwestern waters at around 3pm on Tuesday. The joint chiefs said South Korea and the US were analysing the weapons and maintaining a combined defence readiness capable of a “dominant response” against any North Korean provocation. KCNA said the tests were attended by senior military official Pak Jong Chon, who also inspected training for sailors aboard North Korea’s newly developed destroyers Choe Hyon and Kang Kon, which leader Kim Jong Un has described as key assets in his efforts to strengthen the navy. Referring to the firing, Mr Pak, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of North Korea, said "important successes are being made" in practically developing North Korea's "nuclear forces" according to the plan set by the country's ruling party, KCNA reported. 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 decades, right?” he said, apparently referring to Kim Jong Un. Mr Trump reiterated he still wants to meet with Mr Kim, whom he met three times in 2018 and 2019 before their diplomacy derailed over disagreements on U.S.-led sanctions against the North. “We had a really good understanding of each other,” he said. "At some point we'll be involved with North Korea... We'll, at some point in the not too distant future, meet with North Korea," Mr Trump said. South Korean officials have said a Trump–Kim meeting is unlikely. North Korea has shunned any form of talks with Washington and Seoul since Kim’s high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with Mr Trump fell apart in 2019 during the American president’s first term. Mr Kim’s top foreign policy priority is now Russia. In recent months, he has sent thousands of troops and large quantities of military equipment to help fuel President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, while embracing the idea of a “new Cold War” and positions his country as part of a united front against the US-led West. Last month, Mr Kim reiterated he wouldn’t return to talks with the United States unless Washington drops its demand for North Korea’s denuclearisation, after Mr Trump repeatedly expressed his hopes for new diplomacy.
