North Korea answers US olive branch with missile launch

North Korea has fired several short-range ballistic missiles, Seoul’s military said on Thursday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he would meet Pyongyang’s Kim Jong-un this year.The latest launches from the nuclear-armed North come as South Korea and the United States hold a shorter edition of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises, following an order from Trump to scale them back.Pyongyang has long condemned US-South Korea joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion, often staging missile launches around the drills.US Army soldiers take part in a training exercise on a river in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea on Thursday. Photo: APTrump, seeking to revive the bond he claims to have forged with Kim in his first term, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday he planned to meet the North Korean leader later this year.