Flashpoints | Security | East Asia

Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit, North Korea Launches More Missiles

On September 20, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles, its second launch in a little over a week.

On September 20, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area on its east coast, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The first, detected around 3 p.m. KST, flew about 450 kilometers (280 miles). The second, fired about 5:50 p.m. KST, flew more than 600 kilometers (373 miles). Both are presumed to be from the Hwasong-11 series.

It was North Korea’s second missile launch in eight days. On September 12, one day after the Japan-South Korea-U.S. Freedom Edge exercise ended, North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles from the same area, which it described as part of a “joint firepower drill.” That launch was its first in 23 days. 

The September 20 launches followed a statement two days earlier from Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un. She said North Korea must answer U.S.-led drills such as the Pacific Vanguard naval exercise near Guam with measures at least as forceful. Her statement added that North Korea’s nuclear buildup would not change. 

A day before that, Kim had rejected renewed calls for denuclearization at an International Atomic Energy Agency conference.

Pyongyang has followed each allied exercise this month with missile fire, and the newest launches follow a warning of a tougher response from Kim Yo Jong.

Beyond that, North Korea’s latest missile launches come at a sensitive time. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are scheduled to hold a summit on September 24 in Washington, D.C. It will be Xi’s first trip to the U.S. capital in 10 years, and his first official state visit to the United States since 2015. This week also marks the start of the United Nations General Assembly. 

Separately, an explosion during a mine-clearing operation in the Demilitarized Zone injured three South Korean military officers on September 21, according to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The blast came at about 10:50 a.m. KST south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the western sector, where soldiers from the Army 25th Division were........

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