Foreign News
North Korea Fires Missile As Seoul, Washington Prepare For Military Drills
North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward waters off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast on Wednesday, South Korean and Japanese authorities said, just days before Seoul and Washington are set to begin major joint military exercises that Pyongyang has long condemned.
The missile was launched from the Wonsan area on North Korea’s east coast at around 6 a.m. (2100 GMT Tuesday), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. The launch came six days after North Korea fired another ballistic missile from the same area.
The launch comes ahead of South Korean and U.S. military drills, dubbed Ulchi Freedom Shield, scheduled for August 17 to 27, aimed at countering Pyongyang’s evolving nuclear and weapons capabilities.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said the launch was likely part of North Korea’s existing weapons development schedule, but the timing could also have been selected to send a message ahead of the U.S.-South Korean exercises.
South Korean authorities said North Korea also fired a ballistic missile from Wonsan on August 6, but Pyongyang did not report that launch in state media. Hong said that test may have failed to achieve its intended objective.
11th Suspected Ballistic Missile Test This Year
North Korea has conducted a series of weapons tests this year, including short-range ballistic missiles, artillery rockets and other tactical weapons. Wednesday’s launch marked its 11th suspected ballistic missile test of 2026, according to South Korean assessments.
South Korean and Japanese defence authorities said the missile flew about 700 km (435 miles). The Joint Chiefs of Staff did not classify it as a short-range ballistic missile, saying its specifications were still being analyzed.
Analysts said the omission left open the possibility that it was a different type of weapon. Hong said its range, trajectory and launch site suggested it could be a hypersonic missile, though a submarine-launched missile was also possible.
Condemnation And Heightened Tensions
South Korea and Japan both condemned the launch.
Japan strongly condemned the launch and lodged a protest with North Korea through diplomatic channels, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said.
South Korea also expressed concern over Pyongyang’s repeated missile launches and urged it to halt actions that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions. Its military said it remained ready to respond to any provocation alongside the United States.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said it was consulting with allies, adding that the launch posed no immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory or allies.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had used North Korean ballistic missiles in an attack that killed seven workers at a steel plant in Zaporizhzhia.
(With inputs from Reuters)
