North Korea fires ballistic missiles in first test of 2026

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles off its east coast on Sunday, Seoul's military said, its first launch of the year just hours before South Korea's leader heads to China for a summit.

Sunday's launch follows a US military operation against Pyongyang's socialist ally Venezuela that snatched President Nicolas Maduro out of his country — for decades a nightmare scenario for North Korea's leadership, which has long accused Washington of seeking to remove it from power.

Seoul's defence ministry said it had detected "several projectiles, presumed to be ballistic missiles" fired from near the North Korean capital Pyongyang around 7:50 am (2250 GMT Saturday).

"The military is maintaining a full readiness posture, having strengthened surveillance and vigilance against possible additional launches," Seoul said.

Japan's defence ministry also said it detected a possible ballistic missile, which it said landed in an unspecified location around 8:08 am (2308 GMT Saturday).

It is Pyongyang's first ballistic missile launch since November, when it staged a test after US President Donald Trump approved South Korea's plan to build a nuclear-powered submarine.

One analyst said Trump's Saturday military operation against Venezuela likely played a role in the decision to carry out the launch.

Pyongyang has for decades argued it needs its nuclear and missile programme as a deterrent against alleged regime change efforts by Washington. The United States has offered Pyongyang repeated assurances it has no such plans.

"They likely fear that if the United States so chooses, it could launch a precision strike at any moment, threatening the regime's survival," Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said.

"The underlying message is likely that attacking North Korea would not be as easy as a strike on Venezuela," he added.

The test also came just hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departs for Beijing for talks with counterpart Xi Jinping, whose government is a key economic backer of North Korea.