North Korea just fired missiles again and South Korea can't confirm what they were
1 hour ago · 12 October 2026Share
A medium-range ballistic missile is launched during a test flight at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. File photo. Official U.S. Navy Page from United States of America Latonja Martin/U.S. Navy · Public domain
North Korea just fired missiles toward the sea again.
This is the fourth time in about a month.
So what actually happened? South Korea's military picked up the launches at around 9:20 this morning, coming from the Pyongyang area. At least one of the missiles flew more than 900 kilometres before it came down in the water. The military hasn't said how many were fired in total.
Japan's Defence Ministry tracked at least two missiles separately. Both landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. Japan's prime minister's office says no damage has been reported.
Now here's why this one stands out. It's North Korea's fourth missile test in about a month, and its 16th ballistic missile launch this year. And it's the first launch from the Pyongyang area since 20 August, when North Korea fired around 10 short-range rockets.
So why today? Four days ago, South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung oversaw the country's first ever publicly shown test of a homemade hypersonic missile.
Jang Do-young runs the Public Affairs Office at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. He says the launches were likely about two things at once. North Korea pushing its own missile technology forward. And North Korea answering that South Korean test.
North Korea hasn't said a word about what it fired, or why.
And here's the twist. South Korea's military actually thinks these were probably short-range missiles, not hypersonic ones. They say they still need a more detailed analysis to be sure.
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Contains modified MODIS Terra satellite data showing North Korea, China and South Korea with spring vegetation patterns visible across the peninsula. Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC · Public domain
Compare that to nine days ago. North Korea fired a missile from the Wonsan area and said it was an intermediate-range missile with a hypersonic warhead, and said it flew 1,000 kilometres. Today's launches haven't been confirmed as hypersonic at all.
So what is South Korea doing about it? Its presidential National Security Office held an emergency security meeting straight after the launches. It's calling on North Korea to stop immediately, and says the launches break United Nations Security Council resolutions. South Korea's military says it has stepped up surveillance and readiness for more launches, and is sharing what it knows with the US and Japan.
And there's more sitting behind this. A month ago, three South Korean soldiers were wounded by landmines near the inter-Korean border. A joint South Korean and UN Command investigation found North Korea planted those devices. North Korea denies it.
North Korea's Foreign Ministry has hit back too. It says South Korea is trying to shift the blame for its own accident onto the North, despite the investigation's findings. And it's warned of retaliation if even a millimetre of its territory is violated.
Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, keeps building up the country's nuclear weapons programme. He's turned down offers from the US and South Korea to restart diplomacy, which has been frozen for years.
So what don't we know? Exactly how many missiles were fired today. What type they were, beyond the one that flew more than 900 kilometres. And whether any of them carried hypersonic technology.
North Korea still hasn't said anything about any of it.
Four missile tests in a month. And a rejected offer of talks behind every single one.
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