North Korea Fires Missiles From Sondok in What Could Be Its Third Ballistic Launch in a Week

South Korean Navy destroyer ROKS Sejong the Great (DDG 991) at sea with USS Chosin in July 2010 (file photo). Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph M. Buliavac, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

North Korea fired multiple missiles toward the East Sea early Wednesday from the Sondok area in South Hamgyong Province, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, in what would be the North’s third ballistic missile launch in a week if confirmed, Yonhap News Agency reported. The missiles are believed to have flown less than 300 kilometers, and South Korean and U.S. authorities were analyzing their specifications while leaving open the possibility of a close-range ballistic missile.

Key figures: Under 300 km estimated flight distance of the sondok missiles · 3rd ballistic launch in a week, if confirmed · 22 PLA aircraft sorties around Taiwan in 24 hours

“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. Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Seoul-based Korea Defense and Security Forum, told Yonhap: “It appears to be the Hwasong-11 Ra surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile.”

A busy week of launches

The launch came days after North Korea fired around a dozen short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area on Thursday, which TBR covered in our report on the Wonsan launch. North Korean state media also said Pyongyang tested a cluster bomb that can be mounted on tactical ballistic missiles on Saturday, a test the South Korean military did not disclose detecting; see our story on the cluster bomb test. Wednesday’s launch also coincided with the U.S. midterm elections.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Nampho Shipyard on Monday, inspected a new warship under construction and called for a rapid buildup of naval power, the Korean Central News Agency reported, according to Yonhap !Unverified claim, KCNA (North Korean state media). “It is vital and important requirement of the times to rapidly bolster up the surface and underwater combat power for defending the national sovereignty in the sea under various threats,” Kim said.

South Korea’s navy, meanwhile, is running six days of maritime maneuver drills off its eastern, western and southern coasts that began Sunday and involve nearly a dozen warships and other aircraft, including the 8,200-ton destroyer Jeongjo the Great, Yonhap reported. The drills include air defense, antisubmarine and antisurface warfare scenarios and practice detecting and tracking ballistic missile launches.

Kim Yo Jong cools on talks and denies the Binance hack

Kim Yo Jong, the leader’s sister, issued back-to-back statements this week rejecting the FBI’s finding that North Korea was behind the theft of more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance. “The choice for peace includes dialogue of course, but this is not surely equated with national interests for us,” she said in a statement carried by KCNA on Wednesday, Yonhap reported !Unverified claim, KCNA (North Korean state media). She called the hacking case “no more than a tip of iceberg” showing U.S. hostility.

“It is our clear stand that we have no need to sit face-to-face with such unreliable and hostile persons who refuse to abandon their policy of confrontation while talking about dialogue,” Kim said, according to KCNA, The Japan Times reported, as President Donald Trump has sought a possible meeting with her brother on the sidelines of this month’s APEC summit in China. The Binance investigation itself is covered in our information war report on how the hack unfolded.

Taiwan: fewer PLA flights, defense money unfrozen

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense detected 22 sorties of Chinese military aircraft, seven People’s Liberation Army Navy ships and five official ships around Taiwan in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. Wednesday, with 14 of the sorties entering Taiwan’s southwestern and eastern air defense identification zone, the ministry said. That was down from 49 sorties, 31 of them in the ADIZ, a day earlier, according to the previous day’s report, which TBR covered in Tuesday’s Indo-Pacific security update.

Taiwan’s legislature unfroze funding for 74 items in the defense ministry’s 2026 budget on Wednesday, Focus Taiwan reported: 54 of 201 frozen items after certain conditions were met, and 20 more after the ministry submitted written reports. They included NT$100 million (US$3.04 million) for more than 1,900 Stinger missiles. Funding for NASAMS air defense systems and NT$12.9 billion for seven follow-up submarines remains unresolved. Kuomintang legislator Ma Wen-chun said the United States has yet to provide letters of offer and acceptance for several systems. “You couldn’t get them even if we give you the money,” Ma said. Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Chen Chien-yi said the Stinger letter had been drafted and was “under review.”

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said the island continues to enjoy bipartisan support in Congress after Democrats won majorities in both chambers, Focus Taiwan reported. In Beijing, Zhang Shengmin, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, met Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov on Tuesday and pledged to deepen military cooperation with Russia, the South China Morning Post reported.

By the numbers

Taiwan’s daily reports show Chinese air activity fell by more than half in a day, while naval presence stayed steady.

Watch for the JCS’s final assessment of the Sondok missiles, any further KCNA statements on talks before APEC and whether Washington issues the Stinger letter of offer.

Sources

• Yonhap News Agency: (2nd LD) N. Korea fires multiple missiles toward East Sea: JCS
• Yonhap News Agency: (LEAD) N. Korea's Kim inspects Nampho shipyard, calls for rapid naval buildup
• Yonhap News Agency: Navy stages maritime maneuver drills to hone operability
• Yonhap News Agency: (LEAD) N. Korea says dialogue with U.S. an option but not a must for national interest
• The Japan Times: North Korea pours cold water on Kim-Trump meeting as APEC summit looms
• Taiwan Ministry of National Defense: PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan
• Taiwan Ministry of National Defense: PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan
• Focus Taiwan: Major weapons procurement plans in limbo as lawmakers unfreeze funding
• Focus Taiwan: Taiwan cites bipartisan U.S. support after Democrats win Congress
• South China Morning Post: Top Chinese general meets Russian defence chief days after Politburo appointment

Additional sources

• The Japan Times: North Korea fires off 'several' missiles in latest weapons test
• Yonhap: U.S. reiterates concerns over North Korea cybercrime