North Korea fired what appeared to be ballistic missiles off its east coast days after the U.S. released a new defense strategy signaling a reduction in American military support to deter Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.
Multiple ballistic missiles were launched on Tuesday from north of Pyongyang toward waters off its east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Japan’s Coast Guard said an object suspected of being a ballistic missile likely already fell into the sea.
“Our military is maintaining a firm readiness posture while closely sharing information related to North Korea’s ballistic missiles with the U.S. and Japan,” the JCS said in a statement.
It would be Pyongyang’s second ballistic missile launch of the year and comes after North Korea accused the South earlier this month of having violated its airspace with drones. The South Korean government has denied involvement in the alleged incident and launched an investigation into suspicions that the unmanned vehicle was sent by civilians. After the first launch in early January, the North said it had tested a hypersonic missile.
The latest show of force comes after Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby visited Seoul earlier this week and praised South Korea as a model ally ready to take a greater role for its own defense.
Colby’s visit followed the release of the U.S. National Defense Strategy that urged South Korea to take the primary role in deterring North Korea as the Trump administration shifts its focus to prioritize protecting the U.S. homeland.
The document says, “South Korea is capable of taking primary responsibility for deterring North Korea with critical but more limited U.S. support,” adding that the shift is “consistent with America’s interest in updating U.S. force posture on the Korean Peninsula.”
Details of how the U.S. might change its force posture aren’t yet clear.
The missile launch also comes amid tensions between the U.S. and South Korea after President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on goods imported from the treaty ally to 25%, citing what he said was the failure of the country’s legislature to codify the trade deal the two nations reached last year.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has taken a series of steps to ease frosty relations with North Korea since taking office last year, but Kim Jong Un has rebuffed the overtures, instead showcasing a new intercontinental ballistic missile designed to attack the U.S. mainland.
North Korea is expected to hold a party congress in coming weeks, where Kim is likely to unveil his policy direction for the next five years. At the last congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, held in 2021, the North Korean leader declared the production of a nuclear sub to be one of his top weapons projects.
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—With assistance from Go Onomitsu.
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