North Korea fired more than ten short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast Thursday, flying roughly 300 kilometres from launch areas near Pyongyang, hours after President Trump said he expects to hold new talks with Kim Jong Un. [1][3] South Korea's presidential office convened an emergency security meeting and called the launch a grave violation of United Nations resolutions. [1]

The gap between the two capitals' accounts is the story. On Monday Trump said he had received a response from Kim after ordering a substantial reduction in America's participation in the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, which now end Friday, days early. [1][2] On Wednesday Kim Yo Jong answered: she is unaware of any recent communications between the two leaders, and Washington's hostile policy remains unchanged. [1] One leader counts a reply. The other's government denies the correspondence ever happened. [1][2]

Seoul's defence minister, Ahn Gyu-back, told lawmakers the rounds are believed to be 600mm multiple rocket launchers, the system known externally as the KN-25, which Pyongyang says can deliver tactical nuclear warheads. He estimated the North holds between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads. [1]

NPR's reporting from Seoul frames the week as Pyongyang raising the price of engagement while a government that hosted American troops for seventy years worries about being negotiated past entirely. [2] The missiles traveled 300 kilometres, far short of Japan. The message traveled further. [1]

-- SAMUEL CRANE, Washington