North Korea Fires Ballistic Missiles Hours After Trump Signals New Talks With Kim Jong Un

North Korea fired roughly 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area early Thursday, South Korea's military said, just hours after President Trump said he expects to meet Kim Jong Un again before the end of the year.

The launches came as Washington and Seoul wind down the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, which Trump ordered scaled back and which are now set to conclude Friday, about a week ahead of schedule. Trump said he cut the drills "based on my very good relationship with" Kim, describing the joint war games as a hostile signal to Pyongyang, and cited what he called South Korea's insufficient support during the war with Iran as an additional reason.

North Korea has for decades denounced the U.S.-South Korea exercises as rehearsals for invasion and frequently answers them with weapons tests. Japan's government said a suspected North Korean ballistic missile had already come down, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.

Trump's outreach adds a new twist to on-and-off diplomacy with Pyongyang. He met Kim three times during his first term but never secured a binding commitment to curb North Korea's nuclear arsenal, which has expanded steadily since. This week Trump put the North's stockpile at 57 "very powerful" nuclear weapons, while South Korean officials estimate Pyongyang holds between 80 and 120 warheads, a gap Seoul officials said they could not explain.

Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's influential sister, said Wednesday that her brother retains "good memories and feelings" toward Trump and described the relationship as still "excellent," though she added she was unaware of any active contact between the two men.

South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said Seoul remains opposed to formally recognizing North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, a status Kim has long sought, and said he does not believe Washington has abandoned the goal of denuclearization. President Lee Jae Myung said he would "do his utmost" to support Trump's efforts to restart talks with Pyongyang, while the Pentagon said the shortened drills would cause "no degradation" to training objectives.