North Korea fires ballistic missiles off eastern coast, Seoul says

South Korea said it boosted its surveillance posture and was closely exchanging information on the launches with the US and Japan.

People sit near a television screen showing a news broadcast with footage of a North Korean missile test at a train station in Seoul, on September 12, 2026 [Jung Yeon-je/AFP]

North Korea has fired ballistic missiles towards the sea off its eastern coast, according to South Korea’s military.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it detected several missiles launched from North Korea’s eastern coastal area of Wonsan about 5:20am on Saturday (20:20 GMT on Friday), which flew about 250 kilometres (155 miles). It added that it is closely exchanging information on the launches with the United States and Japan.

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South Korea’s presidential National Security Office said it held an emergency security meeting with the Defence Ministry, the JCS and other relevant agencies following the launch.

The US Pacific Command said North Korea’s launch event does not pose an immediate threat to US territory or to its allies, adding that Washington remains committed to the defence of South Korea and its other allies in the region.

The missiles were launched a day after South Korea concluded five days of joint maritime drills with the US and Japan that were focused on North Korea.

Hours after the exercises began on Monday, North Korea’s defence minister, Kim Song Gi, criticised the exercise and warned North Korea was capable of taking “strong and reflective countermeasures from the standpoint of power”.

Late last month, North Korea slammed plans for the so-called Freedom Edge exercises in international waters off South Korea as a “threat” to Pyongyang and other countries in the region.

The North also fired a barrage of missiles into the sea on August 20, despite an overture from US President Donald Trump, who said he planned to meet this year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The August launch from the nuclear-armed North came as South Korea and the US held a shorter edition of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises, following an order from Trump to scale back the drills .

The order from Trump, who called the exercises “inappropriate and hostile” towards North Korea, alarmed US allies in the region.

Pyongyang has long condemned US-South Korea joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion, often staging missile launches around the drills.

韩国表示已加强监视态势，并与美国和日本密切交换有关导弹发射的信息。

2026年9月12日，在首尔的一个火车站，人们坐在电视屏幕旁，屏幕上正在播放朝鲜导弹试验的新闻画面。[Jung Yeon-je/AFP]

据韩国军方消息，朝鲜向其东部沿海海域发射了弹道导弹。

韩国联合参谋本部表示，周六凌晨5点20分左右（格林尼治标准时间周五20:20），探测到数枚导弹从朝鲜东部沿海地区元山发射，飞行距离约250公里（155英里）。韩国方面补充说，正与美国和日本密切交换有关此次发射的信息。

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韩国总统国家安全办公室表示，导弹发射后，立即与国防部、联合参谋本部及其他相关机构召开了紧急安全会议。

美国太平洋司令部表示，朝鲜的发射活动不会对美国领土或其盟友构成直接威胁，并补充说，华盛顿仍然致力于保卫韩国及其在该地区的其他盟友。

在韩国与美国和日本结束了为期五天的以朝鲜为重点的联合海上演习的第二天，韩国发射了这些导弹。

周一演习开始数小时后，朝鲜国防部长金成基批评了此次演习，并警告说，朝鲜有能力从实力角度采取“强有力的、深思熟虑的反制措施”。

上个月底，朝鲜抨击在韩国附近国际水域举行的所谓“自由边缘”演习计划，称其对平壤和该地区其他国家构成“威胁”。

尽管美国总统唐纳德·特朗普表示计划今年与朝鲜领导人金正恩会面，但朝鲜仍在8月20日向海中发射了一连串导弹。

8 月，拥有核武器的朝鲜发射导弹之际，韩国和美国举行了规模较小的年度“乙支自由之盾”联合军演，此前特朗普下令缩减军演规模。

特朗普称这些演习“不恰当且对朝鲜怀有敌意”，他的命令令美国在该地区的盟友感到震惊。

平壤长期以来一直谴责美韩联合军演是入侵演习，并经常在军演期间进行导弹发射。