North Korea Fires Missiles as US and South Korea Kick Off Joint Military Drills

Pyongyang called the war games a ‘dangerous provocative act’ which may ’spark off a physical conflict.’

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 Jan. 14, 2025. Jung Yeon-JeAFP via Getty Images

North Korea has fired multiple missiles off its west coast, as the United States and South Korea kicked off annual joint military drills, according to Seoul’s military.

The missiles, fired from North Korea’s western region toward the Yellow Sea, were believed to be close-range ballistic missiles, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said on March 10.

They were sent at about 1:50 p.m. local time, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a text message sent to reporters.

North Korean state media slammed the drills by the United States and U.S. ally South Korea, which are currently starting, saying they would escalate to conflict.

“This is a dangerous provocative act of leading the acute situation on the Korean peninsula, which may spark off a physical conflict between the two sides by means of an accidental single shot, to the extreme point,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry stated, according to state media outlet KCNA.

The ministry noted that the drills would harm U.S. security.

To deter North Korean provocations and attacks, the United States has more than 28,500 military personnel stationed in South Korea.

Live-Fire Exercises Suspended

The allies’ annual Freedom Shield drills are scheduled to run until March 20.

However, live-fire exercises were suspended after South Korean fighter jets accidentally dropped bombs on a civilian area.

The military stated that the incident would not affect the major joint South Korean and U.S. military exercises starting on March 10.

The jets mistakenly dropped eight air-to-surface bombs on Pocheon, which is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Seoul, on March 6, injuring 29, the country’s defense ministry stated.

Nine of the wounded are currently hospitalized, including two who were seriously hurt, according to the spokesperson.

The area was outside of a training area close to the border with North Korea.

Defence Ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyu told reporters on March 7 that the latest tally included cases of ear damage due to the blasts, as well as people suffering from migraines and anxiety.

It is unclear how long the live-fire suspension will last.

North Korean Weapons

Last year, lawmakers in South Korea warned that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is making progress toward producing weapons-grade nuclear materials to develop more powerful and accurate bombs.

North Korea, which is controlled by a highly totalitarian socialist regime, in September 2024 unveiled via state media a secretive facility that produces uranium, a key material used in the development of nuclear weapons.

This could be for possibly a test detonation of a nuclear device or flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile test.

Seoul’s National Intelligence Service stated at the time that Kim’s disclosure of the facility was likely a statement of defiance toward Washington ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

In terms of North Korea’s bomb fuel capacity, the agency stated that North Korea likely has about 70 kilograms (154 pounds) of plutonium and an unspecified but considerable amount of weapons-grade uranium.

On March 4, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused the United States of intensifying confrontational actions and threatened to ramp up measures “threatening the security of the enemy at the strategic level.”

She cited the recent temporary deployments of an aircraft carrier and long-range bombers in South Korea and other U.S.-involved military activities.

In response, the South Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement that Kim’s comments were nothing more than deception to justify its nuclear missile development.

“North Korea’s nuclear weapons are never acceptable, and the only way for North Korea to survive is to abandon its obsession and delusion about nuclear [weapons],” the ministry said in a statement.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.