Seoul reports missile launches from North Korea’s east coast

North Korea fired several ballistic missiles toward the sea off its eastern coast, South Korea’s military said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the launches from the eastern coastal area of Wonsan at about 5:20am on Saturday, or 20:20 GMT on Friday, and said the missiles flew about 250km.

South Korea said it was closely exchanging information about the launches with the United States and Japan. The US Pacific Command said the event did not pose an immediate threat to US territory or its allies, while reaffirming Washington’s commitment to defending South Korea and other regional allies.

Why the launches followed the maritime drills

The launches came after the conclusion of the joint maritime exercises. Hours after the drills began on Monday, Kim Song Gi criticised them. North Korea has long condemned US-South Korea military exercises as rehearsals for invasion and has often staged missile launches around the drills.

What we know now

• South Korea’s presidential National Security Office held an emergency security meeting with the Defence Ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other relevant agencies.
• The launches came one day after South Korea completed five days of joint maritime drills with the United States and Japan focused on North Korea.
• North Korea’s defence minister, Kim Song Gi, had criticised the exercises and warned of possible “strong and reflective countermeasures from the standpoint of power”.

Earlier tensions over regional exercises

Late last month, North Korea criticised plans for the Freedom Edge exercises in international waters off South Korea, calling them a threat to Pyongyang and other countries in the region. Read the context: Lee urges faster transfer of South Korea’s wartime command authority.

North Korea also fired a barrage of missiles into the sea on August 20. That launch followed an overture from US President Donald Trump, who said he planned to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year, and took place while South Korea and the US held a shorter version of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises. Trump had ordered the drills scaled back and described them as “inappropriate and hostile” toward North Korea.