North Korea fires about 10 ballistic missiles toward East Sea amid U.S.-ROK drills

North Korea fired about 10 ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Tuesday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The missiles were detected in the vicinity of Sunan, near Pyongyang, and were tracked as they traveled east. The military described them as unknown-type ballistic missiles and said it was monitoring the launches closely.

South Korea’s military said it is strengthening surveillance and readiness in response to the launches and is sharing missile-related information with the United States and Japan. The Joint Chiefs of Staff added that it is analyzing the missiles’ specifications and range.

This is North Korea’s third missile launch of the year and comes 47 days after a ballistic missile was fired into the East Sea on January 27. The timing and cadence of launches have kept regional tensions elevated.

The launch followed a White House visit on the previous day by South Korea’s Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who met with U.S. President Donald Trump. The report says Trump praised a “good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and asked Kim Min-seok whether Kim would be interested in engaging in dialogue with the United States.

Analysts have tied the latest launch to ongoing U.S.–South Korea military drills, notably the Freedom Shield exercises that began on the 9th and run through the 19th. North Korea has framed the drills as hostile preparations, with Kim Yo-jong, a senior North Korean official, issuing a statement the day after the exercises began warning of potential consequences from perceived adversaries’ military displays.

Freedom Shield is described by Seoul and Washington as a theater-level, combined deterrence exercise designed to prepare for contingencies on the Korean Peninsula. This year’s drills reduced the outdoor field training component compared with last year, a change North Korea has cited in criticizing the exercises as rehearsal for invasion.

For international audiences, the episode underscores the ongoing volatility surrounding North Korea’s ballistic-missile program and the U.S.–ROK alliance’s deterrence posture. The United States continues to emphasize its commitments to South Korea and Japan, and to monitor developments closely given potential implications for regional security, defense planning, and stability in broader Asia-Pacific supply chains.