North Korea launched two ballistic missiles ahead of the United States and South Korea’s drills.

South Korean media reported on this.

The missile launch took place toward the Yellow Sea after the start of the annual joint exercises aimed at enhancing military skills and improving the command capabilities of the joint U.S.-South Korea military command.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported detecting the launch from an area near the western district of Hwangju in North Hwanghae Province at around 1:50 p.m. local time.

Analysis of the gathered information allowed the target to be classified as a short-range ballistic missile with a flight range of less than 300 km.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff noted that despite the test, radar posts and other units would be put on full combat readiness and intensify surveillance of the northern neighbor.

As reported by South Korean media, this launch was North Korea’s first missile test since the arrival of the new U.S. administration and the presidency of Donald Trump.

According to the Korean media, the test demonstrates to Trump that North Korea will not reduce its missile capabilities, including in the context of developing nuclear weapons.

The last time North Korea launched a ballistic missile was in January 2025. At that time, the North Korean news agency KCNA reported that they had successfully tested a new medium-range ballistic missile equipped with a hypersonic warhead.

According to propagandists, the missile flew about 1,500 kilometers during the test at a speed 12 times faster than the speed of sound.

The DPRK also claims that a new carbon fiber compound was used in the manufacture of the hypersonic missile’s engine casing, and an unspecified “comprehensive and efficient” method was used for the flight and guidance system.

But South Korea’s military has said that the DPRK’s claimed success in launching a hypersonic missile might be a hoax that raised questions about its range and other missile specifications.

According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), a suspected North Korean hypersonic missile fired on January 6 from the Pyongyang area reached a maximum altitude of about 100 km and flew about 1,100 km before falling into the East Sea.

It was North Korea’s first missile launch since November 5, 2024, and it coincided with a visit to South Korea by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.