North Korea fires ballistic missile off west coast
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- North Korea fired several projectiles including at least one short-range ballistic missile toward waters off its west coast on May 26, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff
- South Korea's military said the missile was launched around 1pm local time from near Chongju in North Pyongan province and flew approximately 80km
- The launch marks North Korea's first known missile test since April 19, when Pyongyang fired short-range ballistic missiles it said carried cluster bomb warheads
- Kim Jong Un declared in March that North Korea's status as a nuclear-armed state was irreversible and that expanding its 'self-defensive nuclear deterrent' was essential to national security
- South Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged North Korea to respond to Seoul's peace overtures and reaffirmed its commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in coordination with the international community
- UN sanctions on North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs have been in place since 2006, with Pyongyang accelerating its arsenal build-up in recent years despite ongoing condemnation from South Korea, Japan and the United States
Why it matters: This is North Korea's first missile test in over a month, breaking a pause since April 19 and directly complicating South Korea's renewed peace overtures. With Kim Jong Un having publicly declared his nuclear-armed status irreversible just two months earlier, each new launch tightens the gap between Seoul's denuclearization diplomacy and Pyongyang's stated policy of permanent nuclear deterrence.
