North Korea fires ballistic missile, Seoul calls emergency meeting
Pyongyang conducted another ballistic missile launch from its east coast on Sunday. The South Korean presidential office urgently convened its security officials, a week after a volley of short-range missiles.
SUMMARY
North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, September 20, from the Wonsan area on its east coast, according to the South Korean military. The presidential office in Seoul convened an emergency national security meeting following this latest test.
The Associated Press reports that the projectile was launched from Wonsan and followed a trajectory toward waters east of the peninsula. Reuters also confirmed the launch, citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, which was still monitoring the missile’s characteristics at the time of the initial announcements.
This launch comes eight days after another volley of short-range ballistic missiles was fired from the same area. According to South Korean authorities, those projectiles traveled approximately 250 kilometers following the conclusion of a trilateral military exercise conducted by South Korea, the United States, and Japan.
Pyongyang subsequently described that volley as a live-fire drill involving missiles, artillery, and drones. The North Korean military claimed it aimed to test a coordinated strike capability, while Seoul maintained heightened surveillance levels in coordination with Washington and Tokyo.
A protracted military sequence
The latest launch occurs as Washington seeks to reopen a diplomatic channel with Kim Jong Un. Donald Trump has scaled back some joint exercises with South Korea, but Pyongyang has so far dismissed the notion that this gesture is sufficient to alter what it describes as a hostile U.S. policy.
North Korea is simultaneously continuing to modernize its military forces. Earlier in September, it commissioned a new 5,000-ton destroyer, which Kim Jong Un presented as a vessel capable of participating in the country’s nuclear deterrence strategy.
Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo continue to share information regarding North Korean launches. South Korean authorities had not yet provided detailed data on the altitude, distance traveled, or precise impact point of the projectile in the early hours following Sunday’s launch.
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