(2nd LD) N. Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles toward East Sea: JCS

South Korea's military reported on September 12 that North Korea had launched multiple ballistic missiles towards the East Sea, just a day after the trilateral military exercise between South Korea, the United States, and Japan concluded. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) detected the launches from the Wonsan area around 5:20 a.m., though no additional details were provided.

The South Korean military has escalated surveillance to spot potential further launches and maintains full readiness while sharing information with the U.S. and Japan. This launch followed the completion of the Freedom Edge exercise in international waters off South Korea's southern island of Jeju on Friday, where the three nations continued despite scaling back their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise last month due to U.S. President Donald Trump's order.

North Korean Defense Minister Kim Song-gi had threatened to deploy "reflective countermeasures" against the trilateral drill on Monday, warning that any attempt by the U.S. and its allies to provoke a new military confrontation would be met with strong and proportionate retaliation. The North had previously fired short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on August 20, as the allies conducted their annual UFS drills, a response to the frequent denouncement of such exercises by Pyongyang as rehearsals for invasion, prompting retaliatory weapons tests.

Saturday's missile launch occurred prior to an upcoming high-stakes summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, expected to take place in Washington later in the month, during which North Korea-related issues are anticipated to be discussed.