North Korea fires ballistic missiles off eastern coast, South Korea's military says
Quick Look
North Korea launched several ballistic missiles toward the sea off its eastern coast from the Wonsan area on Saturday morning, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, which reported the missiles flew about 250 kilometres and said it is sharing information with the US and Japan; the launch followed recent joint US-South Korea-Japan maritime drills that North Korea had criticized.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
North Korea has repeatedly launched missiles in response to US-South Korea joint military exercises, which it condemns as invasion rehearsals; recent drills included maritime exercises with the US and Japan, and a scaled-down Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise following Trump's order to reduce training scale.
North Korea has fired ballistic missiles towards the sea off its eastern coast, according to South Korea’s military.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it detected several missiles launched from North Korea’s eastern coastal area of Wonsan about 5:20am on Saturday (20:20 GMT on Friday), which flew about 250 kilometres (155 miles). It added that it is closely exchanging information on the launches with the United States and Japan.
South Korea’s presidential National Security Office said it held an emergency security meeting with the Defence Ministry, the JCS and other relevant agencies following the launch.
The US Pacific Command said North Korea’s launch event does not pose an immediate threat to US territory or to its allies, adding that Washington remains committed to the defence of South Korea and its other allies in the region.
The missiles were launched a day after South Korea concluded five days of joint maritime drills with the US and Japan that were focused on North Korea.
Hours after the exercises began on Monday, North Korea’s defence minister, Kim Song Gi, criticised the exercise and warned North Korea was capable of taking “strong and reflective countermeasures from the standpoint of power”.
Late last month, North Korea slammed plans for the so-called Freedom Edge exercises in international waters off South Korea as a “threat” to Pyongyang and other countries in the region.
The North also fired a barrage of missiles into the sea on August 20, despite an overture from US President Donald Trump, who said he planned to meet this year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The August launch from the nuclear-armed North came as South Korea and the US held a shorter edition of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises, following an order from Trump to scale back the drills.
The order from Trump, who called the exercises “inappropriate and hostile” towards North Korea, alarmed US allies in the region.
Pyongyang has long condemned US-South Korea joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion, often staging missile launches around the drills.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
North Korea will conduct further missile launches or military provocations in response to ongoing or future US-South Korea joint exercises.
Likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- What type of ballistic missiles were launched?
- Did any missiles land in Japanese or South Korean territorial waters or EEZ?
- Will there be further missile launches or other provocations from North Korea in response to the drills?
