Conflict & Security
North Korea says it held missile and artillery drill
North Korea said it conducted a “firepower attack drill” with long-range artillery and missiles on Saturday, after South Korea reported multiple ballistic missile launches from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
The Korean Central News Agency reported on Monday that the drill involved combined units at all levels of the Korean People's Army. It did not say where the drill took place.
KCNA said the weapons used included attack drones, a tactical cruise missile, a large-caliber thermal-pressure multiple rocket launcher and a tactical ballistic missile. It claimed the weapons hit their targets with “100 percent hit accuracy”.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff had said the missiles were detected at about 5:20 a.m. on Saturday and flew around 250 kilometres. It said South Korean and US intelligence authorities tracked the launches from the initial stage and shared missile information with Japan.
The launches came a day after South Korea ended five days of Freedom Edge maritime exercises with the United States and Japan in international waters off South Korea. Those drills focused on North Korea.
Pyongyang criticised plans for the exercises last month, calling them a “threat” to North Korea and other countries in the region. North Korea has long condemned US-South Korea joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion and often stages missile launches around drills.
Update
North Korea's state media said the Saturday activity was a “firepower attack drill” with long-range artillery and missiles.
KCNA said the drill involved combined units at all levels of the Korean People's Army.
KCNA said the drill used attack drones, a tactical cruise missile, a large-caliber thermal-pressure multiple rocket launcher and a tactical ballistic missile.
KCNA did not say where the drill took place.
KCNA claimed the weapons hit targets with 100 percent accuracy.
Source note: AFP news report published on 13 September 2026 at 21:41:56 UTC.
Update
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles.
The missiles were launched from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
The missiles were detected at around 05:20 and flew around 250 kilometres.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said South Korean and US intelligence authorities tracked and shared developments and shared missile information with Japan.
Source note: AFP news report published on 12 September 2026 at 00:55:52 UTC.
Update
The launch report came a day after South Korea concluded five days of joint maritime drills with the United States and Japan focused on North Korea.
North Korea had criticised plans for the Freedom Edge exercises late last month, calling them a threat to Pyongyang and other countries in the region.
Source note: AFP news report published on 11 September 2026 at 22:21:20 UTC.
Update
South Korea's defense ministry said North Korea fired an unidentified projectile toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch toward the body of water Koreans call the East Sea, but gave no details.
The item adds context on North Korea's August 20 missile launches, US-South Korea military exercises and Donald Trump's stated plan to meet Kim Jong Un.
Source note: AFP news report published on 11 September 2026 at 21:28:50 UTC.
Update
Yonhap reported that South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the launch.
The projectile was described as unidentified.
No further launch details were given in the supplied report.
The source adds context that North Korea fired missiles into the sea in August after an overture from US President Donald Trump.
Source note: AFP news report published on 11 September 2026 at 21:06:02 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
KCNA did not specify where the drill took place.
KCNA's claim that the weapons hit targets with 100 percent accuracy is a North Korean state media claim and is not independently verified in the supplied material.
Source
AFP news report published on .