North Korea fires ballistic missile toward East Sea, Seoul says

South Korea’s military said North Korea launched a ballistic missile from near Wonsan on Saturday morning in the direction of waters east of the peninsula. The missile was launched at about 6.30am and travelled more than 700 kilometres toward the East Sea, according to South Korean accounts.¹²³⁴

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Launch prompts regional alerts

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff initially reported that a weapon had been fired toward the sea without immediately identifying its type. It subsequently described the object as a ballistic missile launched from Wonsan, on the eastern side of the Korean peninsula. Japan also issued an emergency alert for a suspected ballistic missile, while its coastguard said the object appeared to have come down.¹²⁴

South Korea increased its surveillance for additional launches and said intelligence would be shared with the United States and Japan. Seoul’s presidential national security officials held an emergency meeting to examine military readiness and the possible security impact. The presidential administration called for an immediate halt to such actions and said ballistic missile launches breached UN Security Council resolutions.¹³⁵

Dispute over border mines

The launch came as Seoul and Pyongyang were exchanging accusations over a mine explosion in the Demilitarised Zone that wounded three South Korean soldiers. According to France 24, Seoul and the United Nations Command, which is led by the United States, determined that the explosion was caused by mines from North Korea. North Korea denied responsibility, and Kim Yo Jong rejected South Korea’s demand for an apology.¹²³⁴

Deutsche Welle identified Kim as Kim Jong Un’s influential sibling, and she branded Seoul’s demands “utterly pathetic”. She also said North Korea intended to sever its relationship with South Korea permanently and warned that Pyongyang was prepared for any measures Seoul might take over the mine incident.¹²⁴

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged Pyongyang to resume dialogue, while Unification Minister Chung Dong-young proposed talks on border issues. Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul said the military had measures available to respond to the Demilitarised Zone incident. He said the mines were believed to have been placed during North Korean work to reinforce the border.³

Continuing military activity

Recent North Korean military activity has featured trials of a system it described as hypersonic, firing drills and the entry into service of a new warship. The Guardian reported that North Korea had conducted missile tests on more than 10 occasions during the year. The United States, according to Deutsche Welle, called for diplomacy to be revived.¹²⁴

The exact model of the missile launched on Saturday was not established in the reports. Cheong Seong-chang, a vice-president at the Sejong Institute, suggested it could have been a new type of missile or an attempt to prompt a South Korean response to Kim Yo Jong’s statement; those explanations were not confirmed.¹