{"id":77867,"date":"2026-08-21T06:29:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T06:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/77867\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T06:29:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T06:29:09","slug":"us-japan-south-korea-hold-talks-after-north-korean-missiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/77867\/","title":{"rendered":"US, Japan, South Korea hold talks after North Korean missiles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published Fri, Aug 21, 2026 \u00b7 01:31 PM<\/p>\n

[SEOUL] The US, Japan and South Korea held a three-way call to discuss the barrage of short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea, coordinating their response after Pyongyang dismissed US President Donald Trump\u2019s overtures to revive dialogue.<\/p>\n

North Korea launched about 10 ballistic missiles from Pyongyang on Thursday (Aug 20) that flew roughly 300 kilometres, South Korea\u2019s joint chiefs of staff said.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s coast guard earlier said a suspected North Korean missile appeared to have fallen outside Japan\u2019s exclusive economic zone, according to the nation\u2019s public broadcaster NHK.<\/p>\n

The call comes as tensions on the peninsula simmer amid mixed signals over the prospects for dialogue.<\/p>\n

The launches came shortly after Pyongyang cast doubt on Trump\u2019s suggestion that high-level communication between the two countries\u2019 leaders had been revived.<\/p>\n

North Korea also shrugged off Washington\u2019s decision earlier this week to scale back its joint military drills with South Korea, saying it was \u201cuninterested\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pyongyang said that despite the \u201cexcellent\u201d relationship between Trump and its leader, Kim Jong Un, America\u2019s hostile policy toward the North remained unchanged.<\/p>\n

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung nevertheless welcomed Trump\u2019s move to curtail the exercises<\/a> as a potential opening for renewed diplomacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe latest message from President Trump strikes me as a major decision reflecting deep consideration of how to move beyond hostility and confrontation and build peace on the Korean Peninsula,\u201d Lee said in a late-night X post on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO<\/p>\n

\"Kim<\/a>\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

The missile launches came just hours after South Korea\u2019s defence minister said North Korea may possess as many as 120 nuclear weapons, more than twice the 57 warheads cited by Trump.<\/p>\n

Earlier, US Pacific Command said in a statement that the launches \u201cdo not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to our allies\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe numbers appear to be somewhat different,\u201d defence minister Ahn Gyu-back told lawmakers when asked about Trump\u2019s assessment that Kim has \u201c57 very powerful nuclear weapons\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe usually look at around 80 to 120,\u201d Ahn said, referring to South Korea\u2019s estimates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ahn later clarified that he was citing an assessment by a South Korean research institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for the military\u2019s own assessment, there are considerable limitations on what I can disclose here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The latest weapons test marks North Korea\u2019s third missile launch in August, underscoring the scale of the challenge confronting Trump as he tries to resurrect the personal diplomacy with Kim that defined his first term as president.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Kim Jong Un very well, and he\u2019s going to be fine. As long as we have a smart president, he\u2019s going to be fine,\u201d Trump has said.<\/p>\n

Despite Trump\u2019s confidence, Kim\u2019s expanding arsenal complicates US effort to revive diplomacy.<\/p>\n

Trump and Kim met three times during the US leader\u2019s first term, but the talks failed to curb North Korea\u2019s nuclear ambitions.\u00a0BLOOMBERG<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published Fri, Aug 21, 2026 \u00b7 01:31 PM [SEOUL] The US, Japan and South Korea held a three-way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[217,215,214,216,6831,1922,657],"class_list":["post-77867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-business-of-japan","tag-japans-business","tag-japanese-business","tag-missiles","tag-north-korea","tag-south-korea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}