North Korea fires cruise missiles as Trump arrives for APEC summit

A cruise missile is being launched at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Oct. 28, 2025, in this photo released by the state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency the following day.

SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated overtures to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un were met with another round of provocation, as the isolated country test-fired a couple of ship-to-surface cruise missiles in the West Sea on Tuesday.

According to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday, the missiles "improved for the launch form the ship" were launched vertically the previous day and flew for about 7,800 seconds along a preset route to hit their targets.

The test launch came just a day before Trump's visit to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the historic city of Gyeongju, the final leg of his Asia trip that included stops in Malaysia and Japan.

With Kim absent, key party official Pak Jong Chon, along with other senior military brass, observed the test. Hailing it as a "success," the KCNA also reported that Pak instructed the training of mariners for the operation of the country's new 5,000-ton destroyers, dubbed "Choe Hyon" and "Kang Gun," named after partisan fighters against Japanese colonial rule, suggesting that the missiles were likely launched from one of these vessels.
 

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan on Oct. 29, 2025. AP-Yonhap

Despite Trump expressing his wishes multiple times to talk with Kim during his stay here, Kim has remained silent. Some speculated that Tuesday's test launch dashed such prospects.

But others say the possibility still remains in their wildest scenario, as Trump has hinted at his willingness to extend his stay here and may even travel to the North to meet Kim.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Tokyo earlier this week, "If he'd like to meet, I'm around," adding, "I'll be in South Korea, so I can be right over there."

Meanwhile, Trump is set to hold talks with President Lee Jae Myung later in the day, the second summit in about two months following their first meeting in Washington, D.C., in late August.