What did North Korea launch toward the East Sea on Thursday and how did South Korea respond?

North Korea fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles flew about 300 km and said analysis was still under way.

Why is North Korea’s silence on the latest missile launch notable?

It was the third straight time Pyongyang did not follow its usual practice of reporting a launch the next morning through KCNA and Rodong Sinmun. The report says North Korea has occasionally stayed silent when a launch offered little propaganda value.

How did the missile launches fit into tensions with the South Korea-U.S. exercise and Trump’s outreach to Kim Jong-un?

The launches came during a South Korea-U.S. military exercise that Pyongyang has condemned as rehearsals for war. They also came after Trump sought to reopen a diplomatic channel with Pyongyang and ordered the scaling back of the exercise as a conciliatory gesture toward Kim Jong-un.

N. Korea remains silent over latest missile launches

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Summary

North Korea stayed silent Friday on Thursday’s barrage of more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, marking the third straight time it has skipped the usual state-media report. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles flew about 300 km, and further analysis was ongoing. The launches came amid the South Korea-U.S. military exercise that Pyongyang has denounced as war rehearsals, and after Trump moved to reopen a diplomatic channel with Kim Jong-un.

Key Facts

The Korean Central News Agency and Rodong Sinmun had made no mention of the launch as of 6:30 a.m. Friday.
North Korea fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles flew approximately 300 km, with further analysis ongoing.

By Yonhap

Published Aug 21, 2026 7:52 am KST

People watch news on North Korea's ballistic missile launch at Seoul Station in central Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

North Korea stayed silent Friday on the ballistic missiles it launched the previous day, marking the third straight time Pyongyang has departed from its usual practice of announcing such launches the following morning.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and the Rodong Sinmun, the most widely read newspaper in the country, had made no mention of the launch as of 6:30 a.m.

Such silence, however, is not without precedent. North Korea has occasionally kept launches out of its state media when they offered little propaganda value.

Pyongyang fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, amid an ongoing South Korea-U.S. military exercise that it has decried as rehearsals for war.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missiles flew approximately 300 km, with further analysis ongoing.

North Korea's latest missile launches came even as Trump sought to reopen a diplomatic channel with Pyongyang, having ordered the scaling back of an ongoing allied military exercise in a conciliatory gesture toward North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

They also came about a week after Pyongyang fired a short-range ballistic missile eastward on Aug. 12, and roughly two weeks after it fired another short-range ballistic missile on Aug. 6. Pyongyang has remained silent about both launches.

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