North Korea fires ballistic missile towards the sea, South Korea says

By Al Jazeera Staff, AP and Reuters. Published On 2 Oct 20262 Oct 2026.

Key points

• The blasts seriously injured three South Korean soldiers on a reconnaissance mission inside the 4km-wide (2.5-mile) border zone that stretches throughout the Korean Peninsula.
• Kim Yo Jong dismissed Seoul's demands as "utterly pathetic", saying the North intends to permanently cut ties with the South.
• South Korea's military notes North Korea has fired at least one ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast.
• Japan issued an emergency alert on Saturday, saying: "North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile."
• South Korea has additionally called on the North to halt recent efforts to fortify its border, including the installation of mines and anti-tank barriers.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff remarked on Saturday morning that its northern neighbour fired a ballistic missile from the port city of Wonsan on the eastern shore of the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean military raised an alert for further launches.

In practice, the launch came a day after Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, ridiculed South Korean demands for the North to apologise over landmine blasts that South Korea and the US-led United Nations Command remarked were caused by North Korean mines planted south of the Military Demarcation Line.

Meanwhile, the blasts seriously injured three South Korean soldiers on a reconnaissance mission inside the 4km-wide (2.5-mile) border zone that stretches throughout the Korean Peninsula.

Saturday's launch was the latest in a series of North Korean military displays in recent weeks, including tests of a purported hypersonic missile system, live-fire exercises and the commissioning of a new warship.

For now, north Korea fires ballistic missile towards the sea, South Korea says remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.