South Korea holds emergency security meeting as North fires missiles twice

The Office of National Security on the 8th defined North Korea's ballistic missile launch as "a provocative act that violates U.N. Security Council resolutions" and held an emergency security situation review meeting in response.

The Blue House said, "We assessed the impact on our security and reviewed necessary measures," adding, "Given that war is underway in the Middle East, we instructed relevant agencies to be more thorough in maintaining readiness." It also urged North Korea to immediately stop ballistic missile launches, and said Wi Sung-lac, the director of the Office of National Security, reported these measures to President Lee Jae-myung.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that at about 8:50 a.m. that day, North Korea fired several ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea. It was the second straight day of launches, following the day before. South Korea and U.S. intelligence authorities are analyzing details such as the projectiles' specifications and flight distances.

North Korea also launched an unidentified projectile the day before from around Pyongyang toward the east, and it reportedly disappeared after showing abnormal signs early in flight. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) likewise sees a strong possibility that it was a ballistic missile. After the failure the previous day, North Korea may have conducted a test launch two days in a row.

Earlier, on the 14th, North Korea also fired about 10 600 mm super-large multiple rocket launchers from the Sunan area of Pyongyang.

The latest launch came a day after Kim Yo-jong, director of the North's Workers' Party Secretariat, on the 6th offered praise to President Lee, calling it "the attitude of an honest and bold person." Earlier that morning at a Cabinet meeting, President Lee, referring to the "North Korea-bound unmanned aircraft infiltration incident," said, "Although it was not the intention of our government, we express regret to the North that unnecessary military tensions were caused by the irresponsible and reckless actions of some."