North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan early on Wednesday, its second such test in less than a week, in what analysts describe as a deliberate signal of displeasure ahead of major annual joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was fired from the Wonsan area, a coastal city on North Korea's eastern seaboard, at around 6:00 a.m. local time, travelling more than 700 kilometres before falling into the sea. Japan's Defence Ministry confirmed it had detected the launch and said the weapon did not reach its exclusive economic zone, indicating it came down well short of Japanese waters.

The launch coincided with the announcement that the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises — a large-scale combined training event — will begin on 17 August and run for eleven days, involving some 18,000 South Korean troops alongside US forces. Wednesday's test was North Korea's eleventh suspected ballistic missile launch of 2026 and follows a similar short-range missile fired from the same Wonsan area on 6 August. South Korean and US authorities are still analysing the weapon's specifications, though its range of over 700 kilometres is consistent with a short-range ballistic missile, possibly the KN-23 — a system comparable to Russia's Iskander missile capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads. Unusually, North Korea has not publicly confirmed either of the two most recent launches through state media, which some analysts say may indicate a test failure or the trial of a new system.

North Korea has a well-established pattern of responding to US-South Korean military drills with weapons tests and hostile rhetoric, consistently characterising the joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion. Seoul and Washington maintain that the drills are purely defensive in nature.