North Korea fires several ballistic missiles from Pyongyang area, Seoul and Tokyo say

North Korea fired several ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area toward the sea off its east coast on Monday morning, 12 October 2026, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. It was the North's first ballistic missile launch in nine days and its second this month.

The JCS said South Korean forces detected the missiles at around 9:20 a.m. local time. In its first statements it did not give the number, type, flight distance or altitude of the missiles, and said the military was analysing their specifications and range. The military had first described the launch only as an unidentified projectile fired toward the East Sea, before confirming about an hour later that several ballistic missiles had been fired.

The JCS said it had stepped up surveillance and readiness in case of further launches, and that South Korea, the United States and Japan were closely sharing information on the North Korean ballistic missiles while keeping a full defensive posture.

Japan's Defense Ministry said it detected the launch of objects that could be ballistic missiles at around 9:20 a.m. and again at around 9:40 a.m. Japanese time, which is the same as Korean time. Japanese government officials believe both came down in the sea outside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), according to Japanese media reports.

The Japan Coast Guard told ships to pay attention to further information, to stay away from any fallen objects they come across and to report them to the authorities.

The launch came nine days after North Korea fired a single ballistic missile from the Wonsan area on 3 October. South Korea's military said that missile flew more than 700 kilometres. North Korean state media later said leader Kim Jong-un had watched the test of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile and claimed it had a range of 1,000 kilometres. Kim's sister, Kim Yo-jong, announced the same day that an intermediate-range strategic missile launch drill had been held.

Monday's launch also followed by four days South Korea's surprise disclosure, on 8 October, that it had carried out the first test launch of a domestically developed hypersonic glide vehicle. Seoul made the test public as part of its response to the explosion of a North Korean land mine in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Firing from near the capital rather than from the eastern coast, as on 3 October, and in more than one round within about twenty minutes, sets Monday's launch apart from the single longer-range shot earlier in the month. Until Seoul and Tokyo publish flight distances and altitudes, it is not clear whether this was a salvo of short-range missiles or another test of a longer-range system.