North Korea fires missile ahead of US-South Korea drills
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- North Korea fired a ballistic missile on August 12 toward the sea off the Korean Peninsula's east coast, traveling approximately 700km and reaching a maximum altitude of about 90km, according to South Korean and Japanese defense authorities.
- The launch originated from the Wonsan area on North Korea's east coast at around 6am, with the missile landing outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
- South Korea's Office of National Security convened an emergency meeting urging Pyongyang to halt provocations violating UN Security Council resolutions, while its military pledged to respond "overwhelmingly" under its combined defense posture with the United States.
- Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing and strongly condemned the action.
- The launch came days before planned joint US-South Korea military drills scheduled for August 17-27, aimed at countering North Korea's evolving nuclear and weapons capabilities — exercises Pyongyang has long denounced.
- North Korean state media condemned Japan's latest defense white paper as a document aimed at reviving militarism, accusing Tokyo of using Pyongyang as a pretext for an arms buildup.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow used a North Korean ballistic missile during a Tuesday attack that killed seven workers at a steel plant in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
Why it matters: The August 12 launch, the second in just over a week after an August 6 test, comes directly before the August 17-27 allied drills and signals Pyongyang's intent to escalate rather than de-escalate ahead of exercises it has long called provocative. The reported use of a North Korean missile by Russia against Ukrainian civilians, per Zelenskiy, ties the Korean Peninsula standoff to the European war, expanding strategic stakes for Washington and Seoul beyond regional containment.
Ask SkimNews
