People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on April 19, 2026. North Korea test-fired multiple ballistic missiles on April 19, South Korea's military said, the latest in a recent flurry of launches by the nuclear-armed state.
| Photo Credit: AFP
North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles toward the sea on Sunday (April 19, 2026), its neighbors said, the North’s latest weapons testing activity this year.The missiles fired from the North’s Sinpo area flew about 140 kilometers (87 miles) each in a direction toward the country’s eastern waters, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. It said South Korea maintains a readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea and is closely exchanging information with the U.S. and Japan.Also Read | North Korea fires unidentified projectile, South Korea military saysSouth Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches happened on Sunday (April 19, 2026) morning from the North’s eastern Sinpo area. It said South Korea has bolstered its surveillance posture and is closely exchanging information with the U.S. and Japan.In an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, senior South Korean officials expressed concerns about North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile tests and urged it to stop them immediately. Sunday’s (April 19, 2026) launches came hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung left the country to visit India and Vietnam.South Korea’s military was analysing whether the latest launches were made from a submarine, a land-based launcher or both platforms, according to South Korean media.Japan’s Defense Ministry also detected the launches, saying the weapons were believed to have landed in the waters off North Korea's east coast. It said Tokyo strongly protested to Pyongyang, saying Sunday's (April 19, 2026) launches threaten regional and international peace and violated U.N. Security Council resolutions that bans any ballistic activities by North Korea.Last week, North Korea said leader Kim Jong Un supervised missile tests from the country’s destroyer. After the test, Kim said his government remained focused on the “limitless expansion” of its nuclear forces and issued unspecified new tasks to sharpen the country’s nuclear attack and rapid-response capabilities.International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said last week that his agency has confirmed “a rapid increase” in activities at nuclear facilities in North Korea. Published - April 19, 2026 06:36 am IST
