North Korea launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea on Thursday, South Korea’s military said, adding fresh tension to US President Donald Trump’s efforts to revive diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The launches came a day after Pyongyang dismissed Washington’s decision to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea, an apparent attempt by Trump to create conditions for renewed talks with Kim.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were launched from the North’s capital region at around 5 pm local time and travelled towards its eastern waters. Seoul said it had strengthened its surveillance posture and was closely coordinating with the United States and Japan.
South Korea’s presidential National Security Council held an emergency meeting following the launches and urged North Korea to stop ballistic-missile launches, which are prohibited under UN Security Council resolutions. Japan also detected what it described as a suspected missile launch, according to its government.
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World · North Korea · Explainer
North Korea’s nuclear arsenal: who has the number?
Trump has cited a specific figure for the first time — but Seoul’s own estimate is more than twice as high.
1 · The two estimates
USDonald Trump
57
“very powerful” nuclear weapons
KRSouth Korea
80–120
warheads (defence ministry estimate)
57 vs up to 120
South Korea (upper estimate) 120
Seoul’s upper figure is more than double Trump’s.
2 · Why the numbers differ
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Trump gave his figure publicly but did not explain its source.
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Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said Seoul’s 80–120 range comes from private research organisations.
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South Korea’s military says it cannot officially confirm an exact number.
3 · What is officially known?
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The US does not publicly disclose an official count of the North’s arsenal.
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South Korea does not officially recognise North Korea as a nuclear-armed state.
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The exact stockpile remains uncertain.
4 · Why it matters now
2018–19
Trump–Kim summits — then diplomacy breaks down
2026
Trump seeks renewed contact with Pyongyang
Aug 2026
US–South Korea military drills scaled back
This week
Trump says he plans to meet Kim this year, and cites “57”
Aug 20, 2026
Seoul puts the arsenal at up to 120 warheads
The bottom line
The exact size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is unknown — but Seoul’s latest estimate is more than twice Trump’s figure.
Both figures are attributed to those who stated them; neither the US nor South Korea publishes a confirmed official count.
Sources: Reuters · Korea Herald · Korea Times · NBC News · Bloomberg. Statements dated Aug 19–20, 2026.
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Trump says he will meet Kim again
The latest launches came as Trump seeks to reopen direct engagement with Kim. Trump said on Wednesday that he plans to meet the North Korean leader later this year. He has also said he received a response from Kim following his attempts to re-engage with Pyongyang.
However, Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, has rejected the idea that Washington’s latest moves amount to a meaningful goodwill gesture.
She said the reduction in the US-South Korean military drills did not change their “provocative, aggressive” nature and that Pyongyang had no interest in treating the move as a major diplomatic gesture.
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Kim Yo Jong also said she was unaware of any recent communication between her brother and Trump, contradicting Trump’s suggestion that he had received a response from Kim. At the same time, she described the personal relationship between the two leaders as still “excellent” — leaving some room for diplomacy even as Pyongyang rejects the immediate US overture.
BREAKING: President Trump says he expects to meet with North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un later this year, in a likely revival of his first-term diplomatic push to control or persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
Trump says North Korea’s nuclear… pic.twitter.com/PWXv43ZE2o
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 19, 2026
The comments have revived speculation about another Trump-Kim summit after the two leaders held an unprecedented series of meetings in 2018 and 2019. Those diplomatic efforts eventually broke down over disagreements about North Korea’s nuclear programme and sanctions relief.
Trump has sought to revive engagement with Kim during his second term.
Kim’s sister says she knows nothing about talks
Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s powerful sister, said she was unaware of any recent communication between Trump and Kim, Reuters reported. At the same time, she described the personal relationship between the two leaders as “excellent”.
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Her comments came after Trump ordered a reduction in US participation in joint military exercises with South Korea, describing the drills as “hostile” towards North Korea.
The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise was shortened from 11 days to five, with some field training scaled back or replaced with simulations, according to Reuters.
Kim Yo Jong, however, said the changes did not make the exercises any less provocative or aggressive.
US-South Korea drills scaled back
The US and South Korea this week reduced the scope and duration of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises after Trump ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” US participation.
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The 11-day drills were shortened to five days, with some field training scaled back or shifted to simulations. Trump cited his relationship with Kim and also criticised South Korea’s position on the US conflict with Iran.
North Korea has long described the exercises as rehearsals for an invasion, while Washington and Seoul maintain that they are defensive and necessary to maintain military readiness.
Seoul says North Korea may have up to 120 nuclear warheads
The missile launches also came as South Korea disclosed a significantly higher estimate of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal than the figure cited by Trump.
South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back told lawmakers on Thursday that North Korea was generally estimated to possess 80 to 120 nuclear warheads, although he stressed that the figure was based on estimates by private research organisations and could not be officially confirmed by South Korea’s military.
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The estimate is substantially higher than Trump’s claim on Wednesday that Kim has 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons.
Ahn said the numbers “appear somewhat different” but reiterated that Seoul does not officially recognise North Korea as a nuclear-armed state. He said South Korea would continue relying on the US nuclear umbrella rather than developing its own nuclear weapons or accepting the deployment of US tactical nuclear weapons.
Can Trump and Kim revive their old diplomacy?
Trump and Kim held three high-profile meetings during Trump’s first presidency in 2018 and 2019, but their diplomacy collapsed over disagreements about North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme and sanctions relief.
Trump is now seeking to revive that engagement. But North Korea’s latest missile launches, its rejection of the scaled-back military drills and the uncertainty over whether Trump and Kim are actually communicating suggest that a new summit may not be imminent.
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At the same time, Kim Yo Jong’s decision to describe the relationship between the two leaders as “excellent” rather than issue a more aggressive condemnation suggests Pyongyang may be keeping the door open for further negotiations.
Trump said on Wednesday that he had received a response from Kim following his attempts to re-establish contact and confirmed that he expected to meet the North Korean leader later this year, Reuters reported.
Asked whether he expected to meet Kim this year, Trump replied: “Yeah, I will be.”
(With inputs from agencies)
