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| ▲ North Korea carries out a firepower strike drill involving 600 mm ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers on March 14, 2026, in this photo published by the Korean Central News Agency the following day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) N Korea-missile launch
(LEAD) N. Korea fires another ballistic missile toward East Sea after morning launches
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details throughout; COMBINES with story slugged 'N Korea-projectile launch')
By Lee Minji
SEOUL, April 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired another ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday afternoon after launching multiple short-range ballistic missiles earlier in the day, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
The JCS said it detected the launch without providing further details.
The provocation came just hours after the JCS said it detected the short-range ballistic missiles launched from the North's Wonsan area at around 8:50 a.m. which flew around 240 kilometers before splashing into the sea.
It marked the North's fifth confirmed ballistic missile launch this year.
On Tuesday, the North also fired an unidentified projectile from the Pyongyang area, which is currently pending analysis by South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities.
The projectile, believed to have been launched Tuesday morning, disappeared shortly after it was fired in an apparent failure.
The back-to-back launches came as President Lee Jae Myung expressed regret over drone flights by individuals into the North at a Cabinet meetingMonday, saying the incidents have caused unnecessary military tension with Pyongyang.
His remarks came after prosecutors last week indicted three individuals accused of flying drones into North Korea between September and January.
Hours after Lee's remarks, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North's leader Kim Jong-un, issued a statement that said North Korea's head of state assessed Lee as having a "frank and broad-minded" attitude.
But North Korea's first vice foreign minister, Jang Kum-chol, issued a statement late Tuesday dismissing the South Korean government's positive interpretation of Kim's message as a "pipe dream."
Jang said the message should be seen as a "clear warning," stressing that South Korea remains the North's "most hostile state," regardless of remarks or actions by Seoul officials.
The North last fired multiple ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on March 14 as annual springtime military drills by South Korea and the United States were under way. State media reported the following day the North conducted a firepower strike drill involving 600-millimeter ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers.
In response to the first launch Wednesday morning, the JCS said it is closely monitoring the North and has shared relevant information with the U.S. side.
"Our military is closely monitoring North Korea's various movements under a robust South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture and maintains the capabilities and posture to respond to any provocation in an overwhelming manner," the JCS said.
Pyongyang has yet to release any report on the consecutive launches.
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