Multiple ballistic missiles were fired from the eastern Sinpo area in the seventh such test this year.
Published on 19 April 2026
North Korea has launched several ballistic missiles toward the sea from its east coast, according to South Korea and Japan.
Sunday’s incident is North Korea’s seventh ballistic missile launch this year and fourth in April.
The missiles were fired near the city of Sinpo on North Korea’s east coast at about 6:10 a.m. Sunday (21:10 GMT, Saturday), South Korea’s military said in a statement. It said South Korea had strengthened its surveillance posture and was closely exchanging information with the United States and Japan.
Japan’s government posted on social media that ballistic missiles were believed to have fallen near the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. No incursions into Japan’s exclusive economic zone were confirmed.
According to media reports, South Korea’s presidential office said it held an emergency security meeting.
Such tests violate UN Security Council resolutions against North Korea’s missile program. The diplomatically isolated country rejects the UN ban and says it violates its sovereign right to self-defence.
The launches come as China and the US prepare for a summit in mid-May, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump are expected to discuss North Korea.
International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said Wednesday that North Korea has made “very serious” progress in its ability to build nuclear weapons, with the possible expansion of a new uranium enrichment facility.
Late last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that his country’s status as a nuclear-armed state was irreversible and that expanding the “self-defensive nuclear deterrent” was necessary for national security.
