Communist North Korea launched more missiles Monday morning, around 9:20 AM KST. The missiles, launched from Pyongyang toward the Sea of Japan, and both South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Japan confirmed the events.
The missiles landed in the ocean outside of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and no damage was reported.
BREAKING: North Korea launches multiple ballistic missiles toward the sea off its eastern coast.
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) October 12, 2026
North Korea on Monday fired multiple ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters, South Korea’s military said, adding to a recent streak of weapons demonstrations that has heightened tensions during a prolonged freeze in diplomacy.
Jang Do-young, spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said missiles of various types were fired from an area around the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, where the country’s main airport has been a major launch site in recent years.
Jang said one of the missiles flew more than 900 kilometers (559 miles) before falling into the sea but didn’t comment on the flight details of the other weapons. The joint chiefs didn’t specify how many missiles it detected.
Japan’s Deputy Defense Minister Takashi Koyari said Japan detected at least two missiles launched 17 minutes apart and that the weapons landed in waters outside of its exclusive economic zone. Koyari said the first missile flew about 220 kilometers (137 miles) and the second more than 910 kilometers (565 miles), following an “irregular” flight path, a term Japanese officials have previously used to describe hypersonic weapons. There were no reports of damage to aircraft or vessels, he said.
While maintaining a hard line toward Seoul, North Korea has been ramping up weapons testing as it seeks to expand its arsenal of nuclear-capable systems, including an Oct. 3 test of what the North described as a hypersonic intermediate-range missile designed to evade missile defenses in South Korea and Japan.
It's been reported that the missiles launched by North Korea were hypersonic.
🚨 BREAKING | Japan suspects North Korea may have launched another hypersonic missile.
— InsideNK/GeoPolitics (@inside_nk) October 12, 2026
Two missiles were fired near Pyongyang, travelling approximately 220km and over 910km.
Japan says the second missile followed an irregular flight path, raising suspicions of hypersonic…
On Friday, South Korea flight-tested a hypersonic weapon designed to fly at least five times the speed of sound and evade missile defense systems. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said the weapons were "critical in strengthening the South's conventional defense capabilities."
North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles travelling over 900km, Seoul says, amid tensions after a land mine blast injured three South Korean soldiershttps://t.co/C2l5shR8nF
— TRT World (@trtworld) October 12, 2026
Tensions have also heightened following an incident last month in which three South Korean soldiers were wounded by landmine explosions near the heavily armed Korean border. A U.S.-led United Nations Command and South Korea's military concluded the devices were planted by North Korea, which denied responsibility and refused to apologize.