Lee has also called for strengthening South Korea’s conventional defence capabilities while reducing its reliance on the US, which unilaterally decided to scale back a major military exercise with the South in August, with Trump citing his “very good relationship” with Kim.
In its latest weapons test on Oct 3, North Korea launched what it described as a hypersonic intermediate-range missile that it said flew more than 1,000km. Japan said the missile landed in waters outside of its exclusive economic zone.
South Korea said it detected the missile flying more than 700km, while Japan’s defence ministry said it assessed that the missile flew about 680km
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, claimed the differing flight estimates by the two US allies showed they are incapable of properly tracking such a missile during its flight and would therefore not be able to intercept it.