South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) confirmed that North Korea carried out the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from North Pyongan Province, near Daegwan. The projectile traveled approximately 700 kilometers before landing in the waters of the East Sea (Sea of Japan), with no damage reported in Japanese or South Korean territory. Japan, for its part, confirmed that the missile fell outside its exclusive economic zone, although it activated emergency and surveillance protocols.
This ballistic test comes amid a context of high regional tension. Just a few weeks earlier, Pyongyang had conducted a similar test, making this launch the seventh of 2025 and the second since South Korean President Lee Jae Myung took office in June. The repeated tests suggest a pattern of calculated provocation, in which North Korea may be seeking to send political and military messages to both its immediate neighbors and the United States.
The most recent precedent was the mid-October launch, when Pyongyang fired on the eve of the APEC summit in South Korea. That action was interpreted as an attempt to influence the diplomatic agenda and demonstrate leverage at key moments.
This latest launch, by contrast, appears directly linked to North Korea’s response to sanctions announced by Washington against individuals and entities connected to cybercrime and money laundering, as well as to the arrival of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington at the naval base in Busan.
Ultimately, in strategic terms, the 700-kilometer range indicates a system designed to operate within the peninsula and its immediate surroundings—more a regional warning than a direct challenge to the United States. However, the repetition of tests in such a short span increases pressure on the allies and reinforces the perception that Pyongyang will continue to use its ballistic program as a political and military tool amid an environment of growing international isolation.
*Translated by Constanza Matteo
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