North Korea fires unidentified projectile, South Korea military says

SEOUL - North Korea fired an unidentified projectile off the country's west coast on Tuesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

If confirmed as a missile launch, it would be the first since April 19, when North Korea test-fired several short-range ballistic missiles, which it said were equipped with cluster bombs.

In early April, Pyongyang also said it tested a new cluster-bomb warhead on a ballistic missile and an electromagnetic weapon, in a move that analysts said was part of efforts to showcase the North's capacity to fight a modern war.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in March that his country's status as a nuclear-armed state was irreversible and that expanding a "self-defensive nuclear deterrent" was essential to national security.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heejin Kim; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Ed Davies)

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This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 11:37 PM.