Pyongyang conducts second weapons check in lower than per week as Seoul, Washington gear up for annual navy workout routines.
Revealed On 12 Aug 2026
North Korea has launched a ballistic missile in direction of the Sea of Japan, in response to Seoul and Tokyo, marking the second such check from Pyongyang in lower than per week.
The launch on Wednesday got here as South Korea and the USA introduced plans to carry their annual Ulchi Freedom Defend navy drills beginning on August 17.
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“Our navy detected at round 6:00 am [21:00 GMT Tuesday] a ballistic missile launched by North Korea from the Wonsan space in direction of the East Sea,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Employees stated in a message to reporters, referring to a physique of water often known as the Sea of Japan.
South Korea’s navy stated the missile flew greater than 700km (435 miles).
It stated it has boosted its surveillance posture and that it was intently exchanging info on the launch with Washington and Tokyo.
Japan’s Defence Ministry stated on social media that the suspected ballistic missile had “already fallen”, with out offering additional particulars.
“North Korea has by no means merely let a South Korea-US joint navy train cross with no response,” Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea skilled at Kyungnam College, advised the AFP information company.
“It is a message that Pyongyang is intently watching the upcoming drills and will stage a provocation if it deems one crucial.”
US-South Korea drills
The Ulchi Freedom Defend coaching is to start out on Monday and run for 11 days. Its scale might be much like earlier years, with 18,000 South Korean troopers participating, in response to South Korea’s navy.
North Korea has in earlier years denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for invasion, and responded to the drills with weapons tests and harsh rhetoric. Seoul and Washington, nonetheless, have repeatedly stated their coaching is defensive in nature.
On August 6, South Korea, the US and Japan detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from North Korea in what was Pyongyang’s first ballistic weapons testing exercise since late June.
North Korea didn’t verify the reported launch.
Pyongyang has ratcheted up its criticism of Tokyo’s defence coverage, issuing statements no less than seven occasions since July.
On Tuesday, North Korean state media condemned Japan’s newest defence white paper as a “re-invasion-minded” doc, saying it “groundlessly described” Pyongyang as the best strategic problem to “justify its reckless arms buildup”.
North Korea has additionally been accused of enjoying a extra lively position within the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Tuesday that Moscow had used a North Korean ballistic missile throughout an attack that killed seven workers at a Ukrainian metal plant within the southeastern metropolis of Zaporizhzhia.
