Overview
- South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed about 10 rockets were launched toward the northern Yellow Sea around 4 p.m. Monday, with analysis of the test ongoing.
- The firing occurred less than an hour before U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived at Camp Bonifas for a joint visit to the Joint Security Area with Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, the first such joint visit in eight years.
- The military separately confirmed roughly 10 artillery rockets were launched Saturday around 3 p.m. during President Lee Jae Myung’s summit with China’s Xi Jinping in Gyeongju on the APEC sidelines.
- The JCS said South Korea and U.S. forces are closely monitoring North Korea’s activities and maintain the capability to respond, noting that multiple-rocket-launcher tests do not violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.
- The system is believed to be a 240mm multiple rocket launcher whose extended-range rounds can reach the Seoul area from near Kaesong, underscoring a pattern of tests clustered around major diplomatic and military events in recent weeks.