North Korea Fires Ballistic Missiles Toward Sea of Japan; Tokyo Activates Crisis Team

In brief

• North Korea launched at least 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area toward the Sea of Japan on Thursday.
• Japan established a crisis response team at the prime minister's office to monitor the situation.
• The missile tests coincide with rising tension on the Korean Peninsula following border incidents.
• The Wirtualna Polska report counts this as the 17th missile test by North Korea this year.

Missiles Launched from Wonsan

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that about 10 short-range ballistic missiles were fired from the Wonsan region of North Korea toward the East Sea, which South Korea names the body of water, at around 12:30 local time, corresponding to 4:30 a.m. in Poland (Korea Północna wystrzeliła pociski. Japonia zwołała sztab kryzysowy – Polsat News) (Kolejna demonstracja siły Korei Północnej. Wystrzelono co najmniej 10 pocisków balistycznych – TVN24). Japan's Ministry of Defense also registered the launches and confirmed that the projectiles landed in the water outside Japan's exclusive economic zone (Prowokacja Pjongjangu. Rakiety spadły do Morza Japońskiego, sztab kryzysowy w Tokio – Bankier.pl). No damage has been reported so far, and the coast guard issued advisories to vessels operating in the vicinity.

Tokyo's Response

The Japanese government activated a task force within a crisis management center at the prime minister's office to monitor the developing situation continuously (Salwa pocisków z Korei Północnej. Tokio pilnie zwołuje sztab kryzysowy – RMF24).

Pattern of Testing

The launch is the most recent in a series of weapons tests conducted by Pyongyang this month. A Wirtualna Polska report states that this is North Korea's 17th missile test this year (Gorąco na Półwyspie Koreańskim. Kim znów odpala rakiety – Wirtualna Polska). The timing of the tests coincides with heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula after several border incidents. Earlier, a test involved a tactical ballistic missile, which some media outlets described as another display of force by the regime of Kim Jong Un within a short period.

Context

The missile launches come as Seoul has publicly proposed talks with Pyongyang, according to a Polsat News report. Footage and photographs from the scene have been used by several news outlets to illustrate the events.