East Asia

North Korea Conducts New Round of Missile Launches

A view shows a missile fired by the North Korean military at an undisclosed location in this image released by North Korea's Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 20, 2023. KCNA via REUTERS

South Korea’s military says North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles in the waters off its eastern coast Wednesday.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired from North Korea’s coastal province of Hamhung. The JCS says intelligence authorities from South Korea and the United States were analyzing details of the missiles.

Wednesday’s missile launches were the fourth tests conducted by North Korea since South Korea and the United States began their joint military exercise dubbed “Freedom Shield” last week. Pyongyang views the drills as preparation for an invasion of North Korea.

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The North fired a short-range ballistic missile in the East Sea over the weekend claiming it was a simulation of a nuclear counterattack against the democratic-run allies.

The 11-day Freedom Shield exercise is set to conclude Thursday.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.