North Korea test-fired cruise missiles ahead of Trump visit to South Korea

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By Joyce Lee and Heejin Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea test-fired sea-to-surface cruise missiles to the west of the Korean peninsula on Tuesday, state media KCNA said on Wednesday, just as U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders are set to gather in South Korea for regional meetings.

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.

“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,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, when asked about the missile test.

The cruise 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. 

Referring to the firing, Pak Jong Chon, 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. 

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military had detected the cruise missiles in the sea west of North Korea at around 3 p.m. local time (0600 GMT) on Tuesday and was prepared for the launch. It is now analysing details of the test, it said.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heejin Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Lincoln Feast.)