North Korea fires missile ahead of major US-South Korea drills
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North Korea fired the missile from the Wonsan area at around 6 am (5am Singapore time).
PHOTO: REUTERS
SEOUL – North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Aug 12 towards the sea off the Korean peninsula’s east coast, the South Korean and Japanese authorities said, days ahead of major joint military exercises by Seoul and Washington long denounced by Pyongyang.
The missile was launched from the Wonsan area on North Korea’s east coast at around 6am local time (5am Singapore time), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, six days after North Korea fired another ballistic missile from the same area.
The launch comes ahead of South Korean and US military drills, dubbed Ulchi Freedom Shield, scheduled for Aug 17 to 27 and 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 US-South Korean exercises.
“Even if it was a test of a weapon under development, choosing when to conduct it requires a political decision,” Hong said.
The South Korean authorities said North Korea also fired a ballistic missile from Wonsan on Aug 6, but Pyongyang did not report that launch in state media. Hong said that test may have failed to achieve its intended objective.
North Korea has conducted a series of tests in 2026, including of short-range ballistic missiles, artillery rockets and other tactical weapons.
The Aug 12 launch was its 11th suspected ballistic missile test in 2026, according to South Korean assessments.
The South Korean and Japanese defence authorities said the missile flew around 700km.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff did not identify Aug 12’s weapon as a short-range ballistic missile, but said the authorities were conducting a detailed analysis of its specifications.
The omission leaves open the question of what type of missile it was, analysts said. Ballistic missiles with ranges of 300km to 1,000km are generally classified as short-range.
Hong said the range, trajectory and launch site suggested it may have been a type of hypersonic missile, though a submarine-launched missile was also possible.
There was no immediate statement from Pyongyang on the launch.
Condemnation and heightened tensions
South Korea and Japan both condemned the launch.
“Japan lodged a strong protest with North Korea through diplomatic channels at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing and strongly condemned the action,” Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters.
On Aug 11, North Korean state media condemned Japan’s latest defence white paper as a document aimed at reviving militarism, saying Tokyo was using what it called an unfounded portrayal of Pyongyang as a security threat to justify an arms build-up.
South Korea’s Office of National Security convened an emergency meeting and expressed concern over North Korea’s continued ballistic missile launches following the Aug 6 firing.
It urged Pyongyang to halt provocations that violate UN Security Council resolutions.
South Korea’s military said it was maintaining readiness to respond “overwhelmingly” to any provocation under its combined defence posture with the US.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said it was consulting closely with allies and partners, adding that its initial assessment was that the launch posed no immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to its allies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow used a North Korean ballistic missile during a Russian attack on Aug 11 that killed seven workers at a Ukrainian steel plant in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia. REUTERS
