North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan at around 6 a.m. Wednesday, its second launch in six days and the 11th suspected missile test this year, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, as reported by Reuters. The missile was launched from the eastern coastal area of Wonsan and flew about 700 kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of roughly 90 kilometers before landing in the sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, according to South Korean and Japanese authorities. The previous launch took place on August 6, underscoring an accelerating testing tempo ahead of major allied military exercises.
Japan’s Defense Ministry confirmed the launch and lodged a formal protest with North Korea through diplomatic channels at its embassy in Beijing. Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi condemned the test as a threat to regional and international security. South Korea’s military said it had strengthened surveillance and was maintaining close coordination with U.S. and Japanese forces while continuing to analyze the missile’s characteristics, according to Reuters.
The launch came five days before the United States and South Korea are due to begin the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises on August 17, which Pyongyang has long denounced as rehearsals for an invasion. Beyond political signaling, analysts have linked several recent short-range launches to continued testing of the KN-23 family of ballistic missiles, systems that Western and Ukrainian officials say North Korea has supplied to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.
International options for responding remain limited. Russia and China have repeatedly blocked new U.N. Security Council sanctions over North Korea’s missile programme, leaving the United States, South Korea and Japan largely confined to diplomatic condemnation, expanded trilateral military cooperation and enhanced surveillance in response to Pyongyang’s continuing weapons tests.
