North Korea fires ballistic missiles, one flew over 900 km

North Korea fired several ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area into the East Sea on Monday morning, with at least one flying more than 900 kilometres, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Oct. 12, 2026.

The launch came four days after Seoul disclosed that it had successfully tested its first domestically developed hypersonic glide vehicle on Oct. 8, and it follows an intermediate-range missile test by Pyongyang on Oct. 3. This story is developing, and the exact types of missile have not been confirmed.

The Joint Chiefs said it detected the launch at about 9:20 a.m. local time (0020 GMT), according to AFP reporting carried by Arab News. South Korea said it had stepped up surveillance against possible further launches, and its National Security Office convened an emergency meeting to review military readiness.

Counts differ between governments. AFP reported that Japan’s defence ministry confirmed at least one suspected ballistic missile, while a U.S. Pacific command statement cited by AFP said two missiles were launched. The U.S. command said the launches did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory or allies.

Japan’s defence ministry reported at least two launches, South Korea’s SBS reported. It said the first missile, fired around 9:19 a.m., flew about 220 kilometres and reached a maximum altitude of about 20 kilometres. A second, fired about 17 minutes later, flew more than 910 kilometres and reached about 70 kilometres. SBS said the figures are from Japan’s ministry.

Jang Do-young, head of the Joint Chiefs’ public affairs office, said the government assesses the launch as a show of force against South Korea’s hypersonic test, SBS reported. Shin Jong-woo, secretary general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, told SBS the longer-range missile was highly likely a hypersonic weapon under development if it performed a glide flight. No North Korean statement on the launch had been reported by the outlets reviewed.

Tensions on the peninsula have been rising for several weeks. AFP reported that a land mine blast in the Demilitarized Zone recently injured three South Korean soldiers, and that a joint Seoul and United Nations investigation concluded last week that North Korea planted the mines more than a year ago. Pyongyang has denied it. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, called Seoul’s demands for an apology “despicable”, AFP reported.

On Oct. 3, North Korea test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that Kim Yo Jong said used artificial intelligence technology and could change its flight path at low altitude, AFP reported. The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

For Canada, the most direct link is Operation NEON, the Canadian Armed Forces contribution to a multinational effort to enforce United Nations sanctions on North Korea. According to the National Defence operation page, Canada has contributed CP-140 Aurora patrol aircraft and warships since 2018, looking for banned ship-to-ship transfers of fuel and other goods. The page says the mission was renewed until April 2026 and does not say whether it has been extended. It was last updated on April 29, 2026.

Global News reported in October 2025 that Aurora crews fly from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, and that Chinese fighter jets intercepted the Canadian aircraft three times on one patrol. The report also noted that Russia’s 2024 veto ended the UN panel of experts that had investigated sanctions violations.

No Canadian government reaction to the launch had been found at the time of writing, and Canada’s travel advisory page could not be checked from our newsroom systems. Readers can find Canada’s military history on the peninsula in our On This Day report on HMCS Iroquois.

South Korea and the United States are still analyzing the missiles’ specifications, AFP reported. Further details are expected from Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Japan’s defence ministry.

Via AFP and SBS. The photo is a file image released by North Korea’s state media in January 2022 and distributed by Reuters; it does not show the Oct. 12 launch. Reuters said it could not independently verify the image.

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