Trump’s Pen Pal, Kim Jong Un, Tests Ballistic Missiles After Trump Praises Him

Aug 28, 2026 04:52 PM EDT, Fri

North Korea launches ballistic missiles after Trump praises Kim Jong Un

News of the missiles comes after President Donald Trump announced plans to meet with the North Korean leader.

By Erum Salam

Aug. 20, 2026, 4:51 PM EDT

North Korea launched several ballistic missiles toward the sea on Thursday, according to South Korea’s military, one day after President Donald Trump praised Kim Jong Un as “well-behaved.””

The 10 short-range missiles ​flew roughly 185 miles toward the sea, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, according to The Associated Press.

“The ballistic missile launch ​is a grave act that violates U.N. Security Council resolutions,” the statement said. The nation’s leaders called on North Korea to immediately cease fire.

Trump has criticized the country’s possession of “57 very powerful nuclear weapons,” but his posture toward Pyongyang has remained soft in his second term. When asked on Wednesday about his directive to the Pentagon to significantly scale back the U.S.’ joint military drills with South Korea, a longtime U.S. ally, earlier this week, Trump doubled down.

Trump called the drills “very insulting to somebody that, frankly, has been during my term, at least, very well behaved,” referring to the North Korean leader, whom he plans to meet with later this year.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday downplayed the reduced joined military exercises, and expressed hope for peace on the Korean peninsula

Kim Yo Jong, Kim’s sister and top adviser, denied knowledge of any conversations between Trump and her brother, and rejected the diplomatic gesture of reducing the military drills with South Korea.

“The reduction of the scale and duration of the drill does not mean the change of the nature of the military drill with a provocative and offensive feature,” she said in a statement shared by state media on Thursday.

Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to step foot into North Korea in 2019 during his first term. No date or location has been set for this year’s meeting with Kim, and the White House declined further comment.

The president is expected to travel to Asia for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November.

Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.

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