Destroy Enemies Of North Korea: Kim Fires 10 Missiles Amid Trump Tensions

North Korea fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea off its eastern coast on Thursday, October 29, as tensions with South Korea escalated and US President Donald Trump signalled interest in renewed engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were launched from near Wonsan at around 12.30 pm local time and travelled approximately 250 kilometres towards the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan. Seoul convened an emergency security meeting, condemned the launches as violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions and strengthened surveillance in coordination with the United States and Japan.

Japan’s Defence Ministry also detected a suspected ballistic missile launch, saying the projectile appeared to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Tokyo said it would continue gathering information and take precautionary measures to protect aircraft, vessels and other assets.

The missile barrage came amid growing concern over North Korea’s military posture along the border. On October 27, North Korean soldiers were photographed beside 122-mm self-propelled howitzers positioned near the frontier, with their barrels pointing south. The weapons carried the slogan “Destroy the US imperialist aggressors, the sworn enemies of the Korean people!” South Korean military officials assessed that displaying the older artillery systems was largely intended as a show of force.

The border dispute has intensified since landmine explosions on September 21 injured three South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). A joint South Korea-United Nations investigation concluded that North Korea had planted the mines more than a year earlier. Pyongyang rejected the findings, accused Seoul of fabricating the incident and warned that alleged violations of its sovereignty could trigger self-defence measures.

North Korea has also threatened to activate propaganda loudspeakers along the border and continued building fences inside the DMZ. Seoul has proposed military talks to prevent accidental clashes, but Pyongyang has yet to respond.

The developments come as Trump has expressed interest in meeting Kim during his Asia trip, although no meeting has been confirmed. Kim’s recent visit to China has reinforced Pyongyang’s regional ties, while Washington imposed fresh sanctions on October 28 against a network accused of generating revenue for North Korea’s weapons programmes.