North Korea has fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast, South Korea’s military has said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches were detected on August 20 from the area around the capital, Pyongyang.
Japan’s prime minister’s office said it had picked up what appeared to be a ballistic missile launch. The defence ministry in Tokyo said the projectile was believed to have come down in waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
The Japan Coast Guard reported no damage to shipping. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi instructed officials to gather information and check the safety of aircraft and vessels, according to broadcaster NHK.
The salvo followed a decision by Seoul and Washington to cut short Ulchi Freedom Shield, the annual command post exercise that began on August 17. South Korea’s military said the drills would now end on August 21 rather than August 27 as planned.
US President Donald Trump had ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce the exercise, which he called costly and hostile to Pyongyang. He cited his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s refusal to join the US war against Iran.
Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s sister, dismissed the move on August 19. She said the “provocative, aggressive nature” of the drills had not changed even though their length and scale had been reduced.
Asked the same day whether he would meet Kim this year, Trump said he would. Kim Yo Jong denied her brother had responded to any such approach.
Pyongyang’s weapons programme has drawn closer attention in Europe since North Korean troops and munitions began propping up Russia in the Ukraine war. The European Union has imposed sanctions on North Korea over that support, part of a wider alignment of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea that has unsettled European defence planning.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on August 9 that Moscow was preparing to host up to 50,000 North Korean personnel.
The latest salvo followed a launch on August 12 from the eastern Wonsan area, which Seoul did not identify as short-range. Pyongyang has not commented on either test.
