North Korea Unleashes Wave Of Short-Range Missile Launches Japan Coast Guard Says Projectile Fell Into Sea

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Nearly one week after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un tested new weapons system for the country's recent warship, the South Korea's military on Thursday said North Korea fired what seemed to be numerous short-range ballistic missiles, AFP reported. Japan Coast Guard said Projectile believed to be from there already fell, according to Reuters.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff stated Seoul military said it had“detected several projectiles presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles”. The missiles were "fired from the Wonsan area of North Korea into the East Sea at around 08:10 today," they mentioned, indicating to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

Since March 10, it was the North's first known ballistic activity, when it fired multiple ballistic missiles hours after US and South Korean troops started an annual combined military exercise, and the country's 6th launch event of the year.

North Korea asserted the vessel was equipped with the "most powerful weapons", and that it would "enter into operation early next year".

Also Read | Trump, trade and troops: South Korea's nightmare

South Korea 's military has said that the destroyer may have been developed with assistance from Russia, potentially in return for Pyongyang sending thousands of troops to support Moscow's war against Kyiv, AFP reported.

In a further sign of deepening ties, Russia and North Korea recently declared the construction of their first road bridge linking the two countries.

Last year, North Korea carried out a series of ballistic missile launches, defying United Nations sanctions.

Japan's defence ministry stated there was no impact on the country, according to public broadcaster NHK.

In early March, South Korea's military said that North Korea had fired“multiple unidentified ballistic missiles” on the same day Seoul and Washington kicked off their large-scale annual joint exercise, Freedom Shield.

Also Read | South Korea fires 'warning shots' after North Korean soldiers cross border Pyongyang's test launch

Just days earlier, in late February, Pyongyang conducted a test launch of strategic cruise missiles in the Yellow Sea, claiming the launch demonstrated its“counterattack capabilities.” Last month, Pyongyang revealed the 5,000-ton destroyer Choe Hyon.

Washington has increased the scale of joint military drills in recent years and bolstered the regional presence of key strategic assets, including a nuclear-powered submarine and an aircraft carrier, as part of efforts to deter the North. North Korea, which has repeatedly proclaimed itself an“irreversible” nuclear power, regularly condemns the joint US-South Korea drills as invasion rehearsals.

South Korea's military mentioned in early April that its troops fired warning shots when around 10 North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border that separates the peninsula.

(With inputs from AFP and Reuters)

MENAFN07052025007365015876ID1109521299