North Korea fired an unidentified projectile into waters off its east coast on Wednesday (April 8), South Korea’s military said, just a day after another suspected missile launch that further dampened hopes of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had separately detected a suspected ballistic missile launched from the Pyongyang area on Tuesday. South Korean and United States authorities are currently analysing the details of both incidents.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, the Tuesday projectile reportedly travelled eastward before showing signs of abnormal flight behaviour shortly after launch and then disappearing, raising the possibility of a failed test.
Military officials cited by Yonhap said South Korea’s military is leaning towards the assessment that the object was a ballistic missile, which may have malfunctioned during its early phase of flight.
Seoul typically discloses North Korean ballistic missile tests promptly, as such launches violate United Nations Security Council resolutions. However, authorities are more cautious in cases where the weapons are believed to be cruise missiles or conventional projectiles.
North Korea, which rejects UN sanctions related to its weapons programme, maintains that such restrictions infringe on its sovereign right to self-defence.
The latest launches come amid renewed tensions following remarks from a senior North Korean foreign ministry official, who reiterated Pyongyang’s view that South Korea remains a hostile state.
The official, Jang Kum Chol, said Seoul was mistaken if it believed relations were improving, insisting that North Korea’s stance towards the South remains unchanged.
His comments followed earlier statements from Pyongyang suggesting it was “fortunate and wise” for South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to express regret over drone incursions, which some observers initially viewed as a rare conciliatory gesture.
Despite occasional signals of diplomacy, the two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950–1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
