North Korea fires a ballistic missile towards the East Sea as tensions with Seoul rise

North Korea fired a ballistic missile, Seoul’s military said on Saturday, days after it demanded an apology for an explosion that wounded three South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarised Zone, for which it blames the North.

Pyongyang has denied responsibility for last month’s explosion inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) and called South Korea “disgusting” on Friday, undermining efforts by Seoul’s civilian leadership seeking a return to dialogue.

On Saturday morning, “our military detected a ballistic missile launched from North Korea’s Wonsan area towards the East Sea,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

“South Korea, the US and Japan are maintaining a strong defence posture through close information sharing regarding North Korea’s ballistic missiles,” it said, adding that the missile flew more than 700 kilometres.

Seoul and the US-led United Nations Command found that last month’s explosion inside the DMZ, the heavily mined zone dividing the two Koreas since the 1953 armistice, was caused by North Korean mines placed on the southern side of the border.

North Korea’s military has been planting mines and building anti-tank barriers along the border, as part of efforts to seal it permanently after leader Kim Jong Un designated South Korea his country’s “principal enemy” in 2024.

The mines responsible for the explosion, which left three soldiers wounded, are believed to have been placed as part of Pyongyang’s border fortification work, according to South Korea’s defence minister, Kang Shin-chul.

South Korea’s dovish president, Lee Jae Myung, had asked Pyongyang on Thursday to return to dialogue, even though his military demanded an apology a day earlier.

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korea’s leader, responded by calling Seoul “truly disgusting” on Friday and again denied that Pyongyang was behind the explosions.

She mocked Lee’s latest offer, calling it “the height of a farce that everyone should see,” and said the military’s demand that her country apologise was “quite laughable.”

Kim also warned that Pyongyang was “ready for anything” Seoul might do in connection with the mine explosion — comments followed the next morning by North Korea’s ballistic missile launch.