North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile toward its eastern waters on Wednesday morning, marking its second test in under a week as tensions flare in the region. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Japan’s Defense Ministry reported that the missile lifted off from the Wonsan coastal area around 6:00 a.m. local time, landing safely outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Military units in Seoul quickly stepped up monitoring while sharing tracking data with Washington and Tokyo to pinpoint the flight path and distance covered.
The launch comes just days before South Korean and US forces kick off Ulchi Freedom Shield, an 11-day joint military exercise held every summer. Pyongyang routinely views these drills as a dry run for an invasion, frequently using missile tests and heavy artillery practice to signal its disapproval.
This latest firing follows a short-range missile test on August 6, which was Pyongyang's first ballistic launch in over a month. Defense agencies in neighboring countries are maintaining strict surveillance across the peninsula, bracing for potential follow-up tests as the military exercises get underway.