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North Korea fires another missile into East Sea following morning launches

Published: 08 Apr. 2026, 16:32

YOON SO-YEON
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A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Jung District, central Seoul, on April 8. [AP/YONHAP]

North Korea fired a ballistic missile in the direction of the East Sea on Wednesday afternoon, following multiple short-range ballistic missiles launched earlier the same day, the South Korean military said on Wednesday.

The launch came just hours after the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the short-range ballistic missiles launched from the North's Wonsan area at around 8:50 a.m. Those missiles flew around 240 kilometers (149 miles) before splashing into the sea.

It marks North Korea's fifth confirmed ballistic missile launch since the start of 2026.

North Korea also fired an unidentified projectile on Tuesday. It disappeared shortly after it was fired, apparently due to a failure. Officials are currently awaiting analysis by South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities, per the JCS.

The recent series of launches runs contrary to remarks made by Kim Yo-jong, a department director of North Korea’s ruling party, who commented favorably on President Lee Jae Myung’s expression of regret over the over civilian drones from the South that were illegally launched into North Korea from late last year to January. "Our head of state commented on it as a manifestation of a frank and broad-minded man's attitude," she said on Monday.

South Korean prosecutors last week indicted three individuals accused of flying drones into North Korea between September and January.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, speaks during a Workers' Party meeting in Pyongyang in this file photo released by the state-run Rodong Sinmun [NEWS1]

Jang Kum-chol, the North’s first vice foreign minister, however, cast doubt on any thaw in relations with Seoul, saying in a statement on Tuesday that the previous day’s statement by Kim Yo-jong was meant as a warning, not an opening.

“The core of the statement was a clear warning,” Jang said, adding that it amounted to a demand that South Korea acknowledge its “wrongdoing” and refrain from approaching the North.

Kim Jong-un has previously dismissed the Lee administration’s proposal for renewed inter-Korean dialogue, including a phased denuclearization plan for the Korean Peninsula.

He described the plan as “nothing more than a copied version transcribed from the ‘homework notebooks’ of predecessors who dreamed of our disarmament” in a speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly in September.

The North last fired multiple ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on March 14, as annual springtime military drills by South Korea and the United States were underway. State media reported the following day that the North conducted a firepower strike drill involving 600-millimeter ultraprecision multiple rocket launchers.

In response to the first launch on Wednesday morning, the JCS said it is closely monitoring the North and has shared relevant information with the U.S. side.

"Our military is closely monitoring North Korea's various movements under a robust South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture and maintains the capabilities and posture to respond to any provocation in an overwhelming manner," the JCS said.

Pyongyang has yet to release any report on the consecutive launches.

BY LEE JIAN, YONHAP [[email protected]]