North Korea fired an unidentified object toward the East Sea after South Korea, the U.S., and Japan had just completed trilateral joint military exercises.
On 12 September 2026, Yonhap News Agency reported that North Korea launched an unidentified object toward the East Sea in the early hours of Saturday, 12 September. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed the detection of the launch but are still evaluating further details regarding the type and characteristics of the object fired.
The report noted that this latest launch occurred just one day after South Korea, the U.S., and Japan concluded their five-day trilateral military exercises named “Freedom Edge,” held in international waters east and south of Jeju Island, off South Korea’s southern coast.
The Freedom Edge exercises proceeded as planned despite South Korea and the U.S. reducing the scale of their annual joint drills, “Ulchi Freedom Shield,” last month under U.S. President Donald Trump's directive. Trump has previously shown a conciliatory stance toward North Korea by ordering cuts to joint exercises with South Korea, citing the high costs and concerns that the drills might send inappropriate and entirely hostile signals to North Korea.
This North Korean launch also occurred ahead of a critical summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, expected to be held in Washington in late September. Issues concerning North Korea are anticipated to be among the key topics discussed by the two leaders.
Source: Yonhap