North Korea launched several ballistic missiles toward the sea on Wednesday, South Korea’s military reported, following an unidentified projectile detected on Tuesday that South Korean authorities also suspect was a ballistic launch.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the newest launches originated from the Wonsan area on North Korea’s east coast and were directed out to eastern waters. Seoul has intensified surveillance since the launches and is exchanging information with U.S. forces.
South Korean media said the projectile detected on Tuesday exhibited an abnormal development during the early phase of its flight and then vanished from South Korean radar, raising questions about its trajectory and reliability.
The missile activity accompanies hardened rhetoric from Pyongyang, which has signaled no desire to reduce hostility toward Seoul. Jang Kum Chol, first vice minister at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said South Korea remains the North’s “most hostile enemy state” and derided Seoul as “world-startling fools” after comments by Kim Jong Un’s sister.
Kim’s sister had praised South Korean President Lee Jae Myung for expressing regret over a recent drone incursion into North Korea, a statement Seoul had briefly taken as a possible conciliatory gesture. North Korea’s Jang said that reading was incorrect and characterized the sister’s remarks as a warning rather than an opening.
Despite repeated overtures from President Lee to normalize relations, Pyongyang has so far refused to resume talks with South Korea and the United States. Both Washington and Seoul insist that any negotiations must address North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and include steps toward denuclearization.
The recent launches and exchanges underscore heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as regional authorities continue to monitor developments closely and coordinate responses with international partners.