South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were detected at about 5.20am from the Wonsan area on North Korea’s east coast. They flew roughly 250 kilometres before falling into the sea, while South Korean and US authorities continued analysing their precise specifications.
The military said intelligence authorities in Seoul and Washington had tracked North Korean activity from an early stage and shared relevant information with Japan. South Korea increased surveillance for possible additional launches and maintained a full readiness posture under its alliance with the United States.
No injuries or damage were reported in connection with Saturday’s launches. South Korea’s military said the missiles travelled eastward from Wonsan, a coastal city that has repeatedly been used for missile testing and where Kim commissioned the Kang Kon destroyer earlier this month.
The launch followed the conclusion on Friday of Freedom Edge, an annual multi-domain exercise conducted by South Korea, the United States and Japan in international waters east and south of Jeju Island. The drill ran from September 7 to 11 and was designed, according to South Korea’s military, to strengthen deterrence and response capabilities against North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.
North Korea had sharply criticised the exercise before it began. Defence Minister Kim Song-gi warned on Monday that Pyongyang would take what he described as strong and “reflective countermeasures” if the United States and its allies pursued what North Korea regarded as a new military confrontation.
South Korea’s presidential Office of National Security convened an emergency meeting after Saturday’s launches. It condemned the firings as violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions and called on North Korea to halt such actions, while ordering authorities to assess their impact on the security situation and maintain firm preparedness.
The US Pacific Command said it was aware of the launches and was consulting allies and partners. Its initial assessment was that the missiles posed no immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to regional allies, while reaffirming Washington’s defence commitments.
South Korea’s military did not immediately identify the missile types. Defence assessments were examining whether the launches involved weapons from the Hwasong-11 family and 600mm multiple rocket launch systems, both of which North Korea has used in short-range strike demonstrations. Officials said the exact characteristics remained under joint analysis.
The timing placed the launch directly after Freedom Edge, but neither South Korea’s military nor the US command said it had established the exercise as the operational cause of the firings. Pyongyang’s warning before the drill, however, had explicitly threatened countermeasures against the three countries’ military cooperation.
Freedom Edge included maritime, air and other integrated training intended to improve interoperability among the three partners. Seoul has described the exercise as defensive and aimed at responding to North Korea’s expanding nuclear and missile capabilities, a characterisation Pyongyang rejects.
The launches also came after Washington and Seoul scaled back their Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise last month following a decision by US President Donald Trump, who said large joint drills were costly and sent an unnecessarily hostile signal to North Korea. Pyongyang did not respond by easing its military activity.
North Korea fired a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles on August 20 while the United States and South Korea were conducting Ulchi Freedom Shield. Japan’s Defence Ministry said at the time that the missiles were believed to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone and reported no damage to aircraft or vessels.
Saturday’s firings add to a year of continued weapons development by Pyongyang. Japan’s Defence Ministry said on Friday that North Korea had already conducted eight ballistic missile launch episodes during 2026 and was also strengthening conventional capabilities, including new warships, cruise missiles and unmanned systems.
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