North Korea fired multiple missiles toward the East Sea on Wednesday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, in the country’s latest weapons test in a week of heightened activity on the Korean Peninsula. The North Korea missile launch was detected from the Sondok area in South Hamgyong Province, on the country’s eastern coast.
South Korea’s military said the missiles are believed to have flown less than 300 kilometres, and that further analysis of their specifications was under way in coordination with the United States. The military has not yet confirmed the type of missiles involved, leaving open the possibility that they were close-range ballistic missiles, surface-to-air missiles or cruise missiles.
FAKTA: North Korea missile launch
- What happened: North Korea fired multiple missiles toward the East Sea on Wednesday, 4 November 2026.
- Launch site: The Sondok area in South Hamgyong Province, on North Korea’s east coast.
- Flight distance: Believed to be less than 300 kilometres, according to South Korea’s military.
- Missile type: Not yet confirmed; analysts say it appears to be the Hwasong-11 Ra surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile.
- Context: The fourth reported North Korean weapons test in a week, and the fourth in a month, according to reports.
Seoul and Washington analysing the launch
“Our military is monitoring the North’s various movements under a robust South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture, and maintains the capabilities and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocations,” the JCS said in a notice to the press.
South Korean and US forces monitored the launch preparations and tracked the missiles after they were fired, according to reports. Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Seoul-based Korea Defense and Security Forum, told Yonhap News Agency: “It appears to be the Hwasong-11 Ra surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile.” If confirmed, it would mark the third time North Korea has launched a ballistic missile in just a week.
A week of weapons tests
Wednesday’s launch followed a rapid series of North Korean weapons activity. Pyongyang fired around a dozen short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea from the Wonsan area on 29 October, less than a week after South Korea’s military proposed military talks with Pyongyang over the inter-Korean border.
North Korean state media also reported testing a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a cluster warhead on 31 October, and strategic cruise missiles on 2 November, including a cluster warhead and a flight manoeuvre designed to strike targets vertically. South Korea’s military did not disclose its detection of the 31 October test.
Launch comes amid exchange over crypto theft claims
The latest launch also came as Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued back-to-back statements this week countering the outcome of a US investigation that blamed North Korea for the theft of more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
In a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency earlier on Wednesday, Kim denied her country’s involvement in the cryptocurrency theft and said that while the country remains open to dialogue with the United States as an option for peace, it would not be necessary for its own interest.
For more news from the region, see Watan News Asia coverage.
