Overview
- North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea on Wednesday morning, following an unidentified projectile from the Pyongyang area on Tuesday that appeared to fail early in flight.
- The launches, which violate U.N. Security Council bans on North Korean ballistic tests, were detected around 8:50 a.m. and the missiles flew roughly 240 kilometers as South Korean and U.S. authorities reviewed the data.
- President Lee Jae Myung, who on Monday expressed regret for unauthorized drone flights into the North, said a probe identified involvement by a National Intelligence Service employee and an active-duty soldier.
- Prosecutors last week indicted three people over cross-border drone flights between September and January, including a graduate student, an NIS employee, and a military officer.
- Kim Yo Jong on Monday called Lee’s stance “very fortunate and wise,” yet on Tuesday Vice Foreign Minister Jang Kum-chol said her comments were a clear warning and dismissed Seoul’s view of progress.