North Korea fires missile into East Sea
North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, marking its fifth weapons test this year and ending a five-month pause in launches. The South Korean military tracked the projectile moving eastward but withheld details about its specifications and distance traveled. Japanese defense systems also detected the launch and began analyzing whether it entered territorial waters.
The timing precedes next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in Gyeongju, where American and Chinese leaders plan to attend. Kim Jong Un recently displayed advanced military hardware at a ceremony in Pyongyang, where officials presented the Hwasong-20 missile system. Authorities have not confirmed whether that weapon was the one tested on Wednesday.
