South Korean presidential hopeful pushes for Trump-Kim talks as North Korea fires missiles

Seoul said the launch may have been to test the performance and flight stability of missiles intended for export

South Korea’s front runner presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said in a social media message on Thursday that summits between North Korea and the United States must restart.

US President Donald Trump has said he plans to reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after the two men developed a working relationship during Trump’s first term in office.

Lee’s call came as North Korea fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, South Korea’s military said on Thursday, in what may be a performance test of various projectiles for export.

The missiles were launched from Wonsan, North Korea’s eastern coastal city, around 8.10am (local time) and flew up to 800km (497 miles) before splashing down in the sea, the military said in a statement.

South Korea is closely communicating with the US and Japan to share information about the launch, it added.

South Korea’s Joint chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun declined to comment on the exact number of missiles detected or their characteristics but said at a news briefing the launch may have been to test the performance and flight stability of missiles intended for export.

The Japanese government also said it detected a launch of a ballistic missile by North Korea, which may have flown on an irregular trajectory.

Nuclear-armed North Korea’s ballistic missile programme is banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions, but in recent years Pyongyang has forged ahead in developing missiles of all ranges.

In March, North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles, while blaming the South Korean and US militaries for conducting drills it calls dangerous and provocative.

North Korea has also exported short-range ballistic missiles, among other weapons, to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine, according to US and allied intelligence agencies as well as independent researchers.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s right-wing presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo accused his party on Thursday of trying to force him out and threatened to take legal action just weeks ahead of a snap election slated for June 3.

Kim told a press conference he believed the party leadership was trying to “bring him down” in favour of another candidate, former prime minister Han Duck-soo, even though he had been chosen as the party’s “legitimate” nominee.

The People Power Party (PPP) selected Kim as its candidate on Saturday through primaries but has since demanded Kim and Han negotiate which one of them would represent the party in the election.

Han, who resigned as acting leader last week to run in the polls, is not a member of the PPP but was prime minister under ousted President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was from the party.

Unifying the conservative candidates is seen as one of the few options to stand a chance against Democratic Party’s Lee in the election.

In a two-way race, Lee has 44 per cent support against Han with 34 per cent, while Lee leads 43 per cent against Kim’s 29 per cent, according to a National Barometer Survey released on Thursday.

Han was the preferred candidate among 53 per cent of PPP supporters versus 32 per cent who backed Kim.

Yoon was removed from office in April over his shock martial law order, prompting the snap election.

But efforts to form a unity ticket among conservatives have proved difficult.

“The forced unification process that’s under way now is a forceful candidate replacement and an attempt to bring me down … so it could lead to legal disputes. Stop it immediately,” Kim said of the party leadership.

Kim’s supporters filed an injunction to stop the party from holding a convention this weekend to officially pick either Kim or Han as a candidate, Yonhap News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The feud has overshadowed the conservative party’s already uphill battle to retain the presidency and policy debate has taken a back seat, while Lee met business leaders to discuss job creation and deregulation and urged North Korea to stop military provocation and come to dialogue.

Senior PPP leaders and Han’s campaign are pressuring Kim to come to an agreement before May 11 when the registration for presidential candidates closes.

Kim has rejected the calls and proposed a one-week campaign for each candidate and a public survey afterwards to pick a unified candidate.