North Korea fires ballistic missiles toward sea, South Korea says

• Missiles launched from the eastern coastal Wonsan area at around 5:20 a.m. local time
• Each flew roughly 250 km (155 miles) toward North Korea's eastern waters (East Sea)
• Launches reportedly came in successive rounds and also involved 600mm multiple rocket launchers

North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea on Saturday, its neighbors said, a day after the United States, South Korea and Japan wrapped up a trilateral military drill that Pyongyang views as a provocation. 

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected several ballistic missiles fired from North Korea's eastern coastal Wonsan area at around 5:20 a.m. local time. 

The missiles flew roughly 250 kilometers (155 miles) each toward North Korea's eastern waters, known as the East Sea.

According to South Korean reports, the launches took place in successive rounds and also involved 600-millimeter multiple rocket launchers. 

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had strengthened its surveillance posture and was closely sharing information on the launches with the U.S. and Japan.

Saturday's launches were North Korea's first ballistic missile firings in about three weeks, its previous launch came roughly 23 days earlier, following last month's Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise. 

Freedom Edge exercise 

The missiles came a day after the US, South Korea and Japan concluded their five-day "Freedom Edge" exercise, which ran from Sep. 7 to 11 in international waters east and south of Jeju Island.

 The drill, now in its fourth iteration since launching in June 2024, involved major naval and air assets from all three countries, including six Aegis-equipped destroyers, and was designed to sharpen joint response capabilities against North Korean nuclear and missile threats. 

US Pacific Command said the three militaries trained side by side across air, sea and cyber domains, citing maritime maneuvers, air refueling, cyber coordination and medical drills as part of the exercise.

North Korea had objected to Freedom Edge as a "US-led war rehearsal." On the exercise's opening day, North Korean Defense Minister Kim Song Gi warned that the North was capable of taking strong and reflexive countermeasures in response.

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A broader pattern of tension

The launches also came after North Korea rebuffed a goodwill gesture by US President Donald Trump, who had scaled back a separate, major bilateral military drill with South Korea; the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise was cut from eleven days to five. North Korea appeared unmoved by the reduction, continuing its weapons displays regardless.

Notably, the day before Freedom Edge began, North Korea held a commissioning ceremony at Wonsan for the Kang Kon, its second Choe Hyon-class destroyer, a roughly 5,000-metric-ton nuclear-capable warship, marking the second such vessel Kim Jong Un has added to the Korean navy in a single summer.