Overview
- South Korea and Japan detected multiple ballistic missiles launched from near Pyongyang around 7:50 a.m. on January 4 that flew roughly 900 to 950 kilometers into the East Sea.
- State media said Kim Jong Un oversaw drills using a hypersonic weapons system that struck targets about 1,000 kilometers away and framed the exercise as strengthening nuclear deterrence.
- U.S. Forces Korea reported no immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory as allied militaries heightened surveillance and shared information on the launches.
- Seoul convened an emergency security meeting and Tokyo lodged formal protests, calling the tests violations of U.N. resolutions and a risk to regional stability.
- The launches came hours before President Lee Jae Myung’s trip to Beijing and followed a U.S. operation that captured Nicolás Maduro, a sequence analysts said likely reflects strategic signaling ahead of North Korea’s party congress.