Photo: Collected
North Korea fired an unidentified missile from its east coast into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said.
The nuclear-armed country has carried out a string of weapons tests in recent days.
The tests come amid rising tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul over landmine explosions in the fortified border area.
News agency AFP reported this from Seoul.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a brief statement, ‘North Korea has fired an unidentified missile into the East Sea.’ The East Sea is also known as the Sea of Japan.
Earlier this month, a joint investigation by South Korea and the United Nations said the landmines that exploded in the Demilitarised Zone, or DMZ, had been planted by North Korea more than a year ago.
Pyongyang, however, reacted angrily and rejected the allegation.
A day earlier, North Korea tested a strategic cruise missile. Before that, at the end of last week, the country had also tested a cluster bomb warhead.
Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned that her country would take tougher measures in response to Washington’s ‘unchanged hostile policy’ towards Pyongyang.
She also expressed unwillingness to hold fresh talks with the United States.
Kim Yo Jong’s statement, published by North Korea’s state news agency KCNA, said, ‘In the current situation, when new precedents are being set in implementing the US hostile policy against the DPRK (the abbreviation of North Korea’s official name), it is only natural that new precedents are also set in our counter-measures.’
Background
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area on the morning of 12 October, at least one of which travelled more than 900 kilometres — The Korea Times reported this on 13 October.
By South Korea’s count, the launch on 12 August was Pyongyang’s eleventh suspected ballistic missile test of 2026 — TaiwanPlus reported this that day.
Sources
Background sources: The Korea Times, 13 October 2026; TaiwanPlus, 12 August 2026
