The latest missile launch appears to be a show of force since South Korea’s hypersonic missile test-firing, Seoul said.
Published on October 12, 2026
North Korea fired several ballistic missiles into the sea off its eastern coast, according to the South Korean military.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said one of the missiles flew more than 900 km from the Pyongyang region on Monday. The Joint Chiefs did not say how many missiles had been detected.
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The Japanese coast guard said Monday that North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles, believed to be ballistic missiles, that appeared to have already fallen.
South Korea’s presidential office said Pyongyang’s repeated missile launches violated United Nations Security Council resolutions, calling for an immediate halt.
Monday’s missile launch adds to heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the two countries conduct weapons tests.
Escalation of tensions
JCS spokesman Jang Do-young said the latest missile launch appears to be a show of force since South Korea’s hypersonic missile test.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung oversaw the country’s first test firing of a hypersonic missile on Thursday, a rare public demonstration of a missile test by a South Korean president.
Lee’s office said the hypersonic weapon, once fully developed, would enhance South Korea’s ability to strike key targets in the “Korean Peninsula theater of operations” by surprise.
On October 3, North Korea also tested an intermediate-range hypersonic missile designed to evade the missile defenses of South Korea and Japan.
Last week, Seoul demanded an apology after a land mine explosion injured three soldiers in the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea. A joint South Korean-UN investigation concluded that two landmines were planted by North Korean forces about a year ago. Pyongyang rejected the claim and accused South Korea of provocation.
Before the border mine explosion, Seoul said it was carrying out “preliminary coordination efforts” to facilitate dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.
Lee pledged to reopen dialogue with North Korea in his first speech after taking office in 2025.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to flaunt his nuclear weapons program, while rejecting U.S. and South Korean offers to revive stalled diplomacy.
Talks between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump ended abruptly in 2019. Kim Jong Un’s government continues to demand that Washington abandon its “hostile” policy toward Pyongyang and abandon demands for North Korea’s denuclearization as a condition of negotiations.
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