North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea on Sunday, South Korea's military confirmed, in the latest escalation from Pyongyang following a series of provocations that have raised fresh doubts about the prospects for renewed diplomacy. The missiles were fired roughly three hours apart from the Wonsan area on North Korea's eastern coast. The first travelled approximately 450 kilometres before falling into the sea, while the second flew more than 600 kilometres. Japan's Defence Ministry confirmed detecting at least one of the launches, noting that the projectile did not land within Japan's exclusive economic zone or territorial waters.
The launches come days after Kim Yo Jong — the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a key figure in Pyongyang's decision-making — dismissed recent diplomatic gestures from Washington as insufficient. When US President Donald Trump scaled back the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint exercise with South Korea in an apparent bid to revive talks with Pyongyang, Kim Yo Jong said the reduction did nothing to alter the drill's "provocative, aggressive nature." On Friday, she condemned a separate multilateral maritime exercise — Pacific Vanguard, which brought together the United States, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada — calling it a "frantic military move" aimed at cementing American dominance in the Asia-Pacific. She vowed that North Korea's "will to defend our sovereignty will be expressed in clearer action."
The missile tests also follow North Korea's rejection this week of a resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — the UN's nuclear watchdog — criticising its nuclear programme. Pyongyang said the resolution had "no effect" on its status as a nuclear-armed state. Kim Jong Un's government has been systematically expanding its nuclear arsenal since high-stakes diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019, and analysts say Kim now believes his advancing weapons programme and deepening ties with Russia and China give him stronger leverage in any future negotiations.
South Korea's presidential office called on Pyongyang to immediately halt ballistic missile launches, which are prohibited under UN Security Council resolutions, and convened a National Security Council meeting in response. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who advocates engagement with the North, said on Friday that a resumption of US–North Korea talks would be "an important starting point" for peace on the Korean Peninsula, and that he had been encouraging Trump to pursue dialogue with Kim. Trump has himself said he intends to meet Kim at some point this year, though no details have been confirmed.
The broader context underscores how difficult the path to talks remains. Despite Trump's overtures — including publicly acknowledging Kim's nuclear arsenal and expressing confidence in their personal rapport — Pyongyang has responded with weapons tests rather than diplomatic signals. With North Korea insisting the US must abandon its "hostile policy" before any engagement, and continuing to conduct missile launches in defiance of international law, analysts and regional governments face deepening uncertainty about when, or whether, meaningful negotiations might resume.