Flashpoints | Security | East Asia

North Korea Fires Ballistic Missiles, Deepening Silence Fuels Analyst Speculation

Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington condemned two ballistic missile launches ahead of allied military drills, but Pyongyang’s failure to report either test has left analysts guessing at the cause.

This file photo provided by North Korean state media shows the launch of one of the five Hwasongpho-11 Ra missiles tested on April 19, 2026. North Korea has not yet provided images of the launches in August 2026.

North Korea fired what appeared to be a midrange ballistic missile toward the ocean east of the peninsula on August 12, its second launch in less than a week, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). 

The back-to-back launches came two days after South Korea and the United States announced their plans for joint drills. The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise is set to begin on August 17. The allies describe the drills as defensive. but North Korea has for years denounced them as invasion rehearsals and has frequently responded with weapons tests timed around the training period. 

The missile lifted off from the Wonsan area on North Korea’s east coast around 6 a.m. and flew more than 700 kilometers, or about 435 miles, before falling into the sea. Authorities in South Korea, the United States, and Japan tracked the launch from its early stages and were still analyzing its exact specifications as of this writing. The JCS did not disclose the missile’s type or flight angle, a departure from its usual practice of offering at least a preliminary classification within hours of a launch. By South Korea’s count, it was Pyongyang’s 11th ballistic missile launch of 2026.

The test followed a shorter-range ballistic missile that North Korea fired from the same Wonsan area on August 6. That earlier test was Pyongyang’s first ballistic weapons test in 48 days, breaking a lull that had persisted since its missile launch on June 25. Kim Jong Un, the autocratic leader of North Korea, was shown new missile systems that day, including a modular launcher developed as an analogue of the U.S. HIMARS rocket system.

South Korea’s presidential national security office convened emergency meetings after both launches, calling them provocations that violate United Nations Security Council resolutions and urging Pyongyang to halt such tests immediately. Officials said the military would maintain readiness to respond to any further provocation in coordination with the United States. 

The Japanese government also protested both launches. Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro told reporters the missile landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. He added that Tokyo had lodged a protest with Pyongyang through diplomatic channels in Beijing. Koizumi described the repeated launches as “a threat to the peace and security of Japan, the region, and the international community.”

The foreign ministries of South Korea, the United States, and Japan also held a trilateral telephone call after the August 12 launch, where they “reaffirmed that ballistic missile launches by North Korea violate the relevant U.N. Security Council Resolutions and called on North Korea to cease such provocations that threaten the peace and security of the region and the international community.”

The U.S. Pacific Command said after both launches that it was consulting closely with allies and partners. That assessment found no immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory, or allies, and it reaffirmed Washington’s defense commitment to the region. 

North Korea has tested ballistic missiles regularly since the collapse of nuclear talks between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019, expanding an arsenal barred under multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions. Wonsan, on the east coast, has become one of the launch sites North Korea uses most often. Firing toward the eastern ocean lets the military test range and altitude without sending debris over South Korean, Japanese, or Chinese territory. That geographic reality has made the area a default choice for routine........

© The Diplomat