North Korea has fired an unspecified type of ballistic missile eastward, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea.
The launch was detected on the morning of April 19 in the Sinpo area, where North Korea's shipyards and submarine-launched ballistic missile facility are located. This is the seventh ballistic missile launch by North Korea this year and the first since a series of tests on April 8 that involved short-range missiles with cluster warheads.
The Japanese Defense Ministry said it would coordinate with South Korea and the United States on the issue. According to Kyodo, the missile flew for about 10 minutes and fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. No damage was reported.
The launch of the missile by North Korea did not pose an immediate threat to the United States and its allies, the US Indo-Pacific Command said.
„Pyongyang launched several ballistic missiles on April 19, 2026. We are aware of this and are consulting with our allies and partners. "Our assessment is that this launch does not pose an immediate threat to the United States military or territory, or to our allies," the command said in a statement.
In early April, the North Korean military launched several short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, which flew 240 kilometers.