North Korea fired ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea early on the 12th, one day after South Korea, the United States and Japan wrapped up their regular Freedom Edge military exercise.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected several ballistic missiles launched from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea at around 5:20 a.m. The military said it had strengthened surveillance and readiness in case of additional launches, adding that the three countries were closely sharing information on the North Korean ballistic missiles while maintaining full preparedness.
The launch is believed to be a response to the Freedom Edge exercise, which the three countries conducted for five days from the 7th through the 11th in international waters east and south of Jeju Island.
Freedom Edge, which involves major naval and air assets from the three countries, was held for the first time in June 2024 and this was its fourth iteration. The multidomain exercise is designed to strengthen interoperability among the three militaries in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats as well as broader regional threats.
North Korea has denounced Freedom Edge as a U.S.-led rehearsal for war. On the 7th, the first day of this year's exercise, the North signaled a provocation through a statement by its defense minister, saying it would take strong and reflexive countermeasures from a position of strength.
The launch was the North's first ballistic missile firing in 23 days, following one on the 20th of last month. At around 5 p.m. that day, North Korea fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles, believed to be 600-millimeter super-large multiple rocket launchers known as the KN-25, from the Pyongyang area toward the East Sea.
That launch came while South Korean and U.S. forces were conducting Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS), their regular theater-level combined exercise on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has repeatedly responded with ballistic missile launches to combined military exercises aimed at deterring it, including the UFS drills and the trilateral Freedom Edge exercise.
The National Security Office held an emergency security review meeting the same day with officials from the Ministry of National Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other relevant agencies to assess the response. It also made clear that the ballistic missile launch violated U.N. Security Council resolutions and called for an immediate halt.
