The Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea from the Sinpo area of South Hamgyong Province the morning of the 19th. The launch was the seventh missile provocation this year and came 11 days after a prior display of force on the 8th.
The JCS said military sensors detected the launches at about 6:10 a.m. and that, under the firm South Korea–U.S. combined defense posture, Seoul’s forces are closely monitoring North Korean activity and maintain the capability and readiness to respond decisively to any provocation.
The detected missile flew roughly 140 km (about 87 miles). South Korean and U.S. analysts are studying the projectile’s characteristics and range.
Because the launch originated from Sinpo, home to a submarine base, analysts raised the possibility the weapon was a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). Observers previously photographed the North Korean submarine the regime promoted in September 2023 as its first tactical nuclear-attack submarine, the ‘Kim Gun‑ok Hero,’ at Sinpo.
If the latest weapon was an SLBM, it would be North Korea’s first SLBM launch in about four years, since May 7, 2022. However, compared with the 2022 SLBM — which traveled roughly 600 km (about 373 miles) — the much shorter range of this flight suggests it could be a different, shorter-range variant.
North Korea has also been stepping up weapons development, including recent cluster-munition tests, leading analysts to view this launch as part of broader efforts to bolster its military capabilities.
Some analysts further contend the launch was a calibrated show of force intended to influence potential discussions on the Korean Peninsula at next month’s U.S.-China summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Defense Ministry issued a statement calling the ballistic-missile launches a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. It urged Pyongyang to stop its successive provocations that raise tensions on the peninsula and to join Seoul’s efforts to restore peace.
Shortly after the launch, the National Security Office convened an emergency security meeting chaired by First Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Hyun-jong, with the Defense Ministry and other relevant agencies in attendance.
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