North Korea fired two rounds of ballistic missiles: Seoul military

SEOUL - North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles in two rounds on April 8, South Korea’s military said, hours after reporting an “unidentified projectile” launched from the North’s capital area the previous day.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought to repair ties with North Korea since taking office in 2025, criticising his predecessor for allegedly sending drones to scatter propaganda over Pyongyang.

The launches follow Seoul’s expression of regret on April 6 over civilian drone incursions into the North in January, with President Lee calling it “irresponsible” and noting that government officials had been involved in the operation.

The launches – the North’s fourth and fifth known ballistic missile tests in 2026 – are seen as North Korea’s latest rebuff of Seoul’s peace overtures, according to analysts.

The South Korean military said early on April 8 it had detected “an unidentified projectile” launched from the Pyongyang area a day earlier.

About an hour later, the military said it also detected “multiple unidentified ballistic missiles” fired from North Korea’s Wonsan area towards the East Sea on the morning of April 8, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

In separate statements, the military said they were short-range ballistic missiles that were fired at around 8.50am and flew around 240km.

Another – also short-range and ballistic – was launched at around 2.20pm, flying over 70km, it said.

The Japan Coast Guard also said an “object suspected to be a ballistic missile has been launched from North Korea”, urging ships to “remain vigilant”.

Seoul’s Office of National Security at the presidential Blue House held an emergency meeting, asking Pyongyang to immediately stop provocations.

Following President Lee’s expression of regret over the drones on April 6, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Mr Lee’s regret was “wise behaviour”.

“Our government appreciated it as very fortunate and wise behaviour for its own sake,” Ms Kim Yo Jong said on April 6.

‘World-startling fools’

But on April 7, a senior North Korean foreign ministry official described the South as “the enemy state most hostile” to North Korea, reiterating a label previously used by Mr Kim Jong Un.

Mr Jang Kum Chol, first vice-minister of Pyongyang’s foreign ministry, said South Korean media reports that described Ms Kim Yo Jong’s comments as an “exceptional friendly response” were “nonsense”.

“This will also be recorded as ‘world-startling fools’,” he said in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency.

The launches are Pyongyang’s message to Seoul that its anti‑South stance remains firm despite Seoul’s repeated overtures, said Associate Professor Lim Eul‑chul, an expert on North Korea at Kyungnam University.

“The consecutive firings and recent statements underscore the North’s determination to ignore attempts by the South at improving inter‑Korean ties,” he said.

Later on April 8, Pyongyang’s state media said China’s top diplomat Wang Yi would visit the North on a two-day trip starting April 9.

His visit comes ahead of an expected summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in May.

Speculation is mounting over a potential meeting between Mr Trump and Pyongyang’s Mr Kim at around the same time.

Mr Trump, who has repeatedly criticised Seoul’s level of support for his war in Iran, has recently boasted of his ties with Mr Kim.

“South Korea didn’t help us,” during the Middle East war, Mr Trump said earlier this week.

“We’ve got 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect (them) from Kim Jong Un, who I get along with very well. He said very nice things about me.”

The United States has around 28,500 troops in South Korea.

Mr Trump met Mr Kim three times in his first term, but his comment in October that he was “100 per cent” open to meeting Mr Kim again has gone unanswered. AFP