North Korea Fires Around 10 Ballistic Missiles Toward Sea Off Its East Coast

Wonsan, North Korea. North Korea launched roughly 10 ballistic missiles into waters off its eastern coast on Thursday, according to South Korea’s military. The launch comes amid heightened tension ahead of Pyongyang’s deadline, at the end of the month, to switch on propaganda loudspeakers along the heavily fortified border.

Details of the launch

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the short-range missiles were fired at about 12:30 p.m. (0330 GMT) from the vicinity of Wonsan. They travelled around 250 km (155 miles).

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The JCS said Seoul was reinforcing its surveillance and staying ready for further launches. It added that it was sharing information closely with the United States and Japan.

Japan’s Defence Ministry said North Korea had fired what might be a ballistic missile. It said the projectile did not seem to have come down inside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Seoul’s response

South Korea’s presidential National Security Office held an emergency meeting to assess the security implications. According to a presidential statement, it urged Pyongyang to stop its repeated ballistic missile launches and described them as a “serious violation” of UN Security Council resolutions.

Expert assessment

Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said the launch could be connected to border tensions as one element of a wider series of North Korean displays of force. He noted, however, that it was hard to say the situation at the border directly triggered the launch.

Kim added that the launch also seemed designed to show the US, Japan and the wider international community that North Korea’s ballistic missile capabilities are becoming more advanced.

Border tensions

Tension along the inter-Korean border has increased sharply since September 21, when two mine explosions in the Demilitarised Zone wounded three South Korean soldiers. Seoul says North Korean forces planted the mines. It has called the incident a violation of the armistice and demanded an apology. Pyongyang has denied responsibility and accused Seoul of fabricating the incident.