North Korea fires ballistic missile into Sea of Japan ahead of US-South Korea drills
North Korea launched a ballistic missile from its eastern coastal Wonsan area toward the Sea of Japan at around 6 a.m. local time on Wednesday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The missile traveled more than 700 kilometers (435 miles) before landing outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, Japan’s Defense Ministry said.
The launch is North Korea’s second ballistic missile test in less than a week, following a short-range missile fired on August 6 from the same region. South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. are jointly analyzing the latest test, with Seoul’s military stating it has boosted surveillance and is sharing information with its allies.
Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi called the launch a “threat to peace and security in our region” and said Tokyo lodged a strong protest with North Korea through diplomatic channels in Beijing. “It’s a serious problem that affects the safety of the Japanese people,” Koizumi told reporters. Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi instructed authorities to gather and analyze information, ensure public safety, and maintain readiness.
The missile test comes two days after South Korea and the U.S. announced their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military drills, scheduled to begin on August 17 and run for 11 days with 18,000 South Korean troops participating. North Korea has previously condemned such exercises as a rehearsal for invasion. Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University, said Pyongyang has never allowed a South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise to pass without a response. “This is a message that Pyongyang is closely watching the upcoming drills and could stage a provocation if it deems one necessary,” Lim said.
South Korea’s national security council called the launches “acts of provocation” and urged North Korea to halt them immediately. The U.S. Pacific Command stated the event posed no immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory.
Wednesday’s launch marks North Korea’s 11th suspected ballistic missile test in 2026, according to South Korean assessments. The missile reached a maximum altitude of about 90 kilometers (56 miles) before splashing down, Japan’s Defense Ministry reported. Some residents in northeastern coastal regions observed the projectile in the sky, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky separately accused Russia of using a North Korean ballistic missile in an attack on Tuesday that killed seven workers at a steel plant in Zaporizhzhia. “For the first time in its history, Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea,” Zelensky said, adding that Moscow had received additional ballistic missiles from Pyongyang.
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Articles
Waffentest: Nordkorea feuert abermals ballistische Rakete ab Zum elften Mal in diesem Jahr feuert Nordkorea eine ballistische Rakete ab. Der jüngste Start erfolgt zu einem besonders heiklen Zeitpunkt.
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