On a chilly Sunday morning, January 4, 2026, North Korea jolted the region and the world with a fresh display of military might, launching multiple ballistic missiles from the outskirts of Pyongyang into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The timing was anything but coincidental—just hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung was due to depart for a high-stakes summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a meeting expected to focus heavily on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and the fragile peace of the peninsula.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported detecting several unidentified ballistic missiles at approximately 7:50 a.m. local time. According to their statement, the missiles soared for about 900 kilometers (roughly 560 miles), landing in international waters. The launches, which marked North Korea’s first ballistic missile test since November 2025, were quickly corroborated by Japan’s Defense Ministry. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi confirmed that at least two missiles had been launched, reaching altitudes of 50 kilometers and traveling distances of 900 and 950 kilometers respectively, before splashing down outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan.
“North Korea’s series of actions, including repeated ballistic missile launches, threaten the peace and security of our region and the international community,” Koizumi told reporters, echoing widespread concern across East Asia. He emphasized that Japan was working closely with the United States and South Korea to coordinate a response, and that the government had lodged a formal protest with Pyongyang, condemning the launches as absolutely intolerable.
In Seoul, the sense of urgency was palpable. South Korea’s presidential office convened an emergency national security council meeting within hours of the launches. Officials described the event as “a provocative act in violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” and reaffirmed the country’s readiness to repel any provocations. The council also briefed President Lee Jae Myung on the situation, as he prepared to depart for Beijing—a trip now cast in a new and more urgent light.
According to Reuters, the launches were interpreted by some analysts as a pointed message to both China and the United States. Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, suggested that North Korea’s actions were designed to “deter closer ties between China and South Korea and to counter China’s stance on denuclearisation.” Others saw the launches as a signal to Washington, especially in the wake of a dramatic U.S. military operation in Venezuela just one day earlier that resulted in the ousting and extradition of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to face narco-terrorism charges in the United States.
“Kim Jong Un may feel vindicated about his efforts to build a nuclear deterrent, as he likely did after Trump’s strikes on Iran,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, told the Associated Press. “However, leaders of hostile regimes will probably live with greater paranoia after seeing how quickly Maduro was extracted from his country to stand trial in the United States.”
Indeed, the launches appear to be part of a broader strategy by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to flex his military muscles ahead of the Ninth Party Congress of the Workers’ Party, expected to take place in January or February 2026. This congress, the first in five years, is set to outline major policy goals for the regime. In the weeks leading up to these launches, Kim has made a series of high-profile visits to weapons factories and military facilities. On Saturday, January 3, state media reported that Kim had visited a munitions factory and ordered officials to “expand the current production capacity by about 2.5 times” for multipurpose precision-guided weapons. The official Korean Central News Agency underscored Kim’s directive to modernize and expand North Korea’s missile production capabilities, a move widely seen as a bid to bolster his negotiating position ahead of any potential talks with Washington or Seoul.
North Korea’s weapons development has been accelerating in recent months. Just last Sunday, on December 28, 2025, Pyongyang test-fired what it described as long-range strategic cruise missiles. Days earlier, on December 25, North Korean state media released photos showing significant progress in the construction of the country’s first nuclear-powered submarine. These advancements, coupled with the latest ballistic missile tests, underscore Kim’s determination to enhance his country’s deterrence capabilities and to project strength both domestically and internationally.
South Korea and the United States have repeatedly called on China, North Korea’s primary ally and economic lifeline, to use its influence to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table or to curb its nuclear ambitions. However, the effectiveness of Beijing’s leverage remains a matter of debate. China, often in concert with Russia, has blocked efforts at the United Nations to impose tougher economic sanctions on North Korea in recent years, complicating the diplomatic calculus for Seoul and Washington.
As President Lee Jae Myung embarked on his four-day trip to China, his office made it clear that he would press Xi Jinping to play “a constructive role” in promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Wi Sung-lac, Lee’s security adviser, suggested that Beijing could be pivotal in facilitating dialogue with Pyongyang, particularly as North Korea has rebuffed outreach from Seoul since Lee took office seven months ago. Economic policy, defense, and military planning are all expected to be high on the agenda at the upcoming party congress in Pyongyang, making the outcome of the Beijing summit all the more consequential.
The United States, for its part, sought to reassure its allies. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command stated that the missile launches “do not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies,” while emphasizing continued close consultation with partners across the region.
For many observers, the events of January 4 encapsulate the volatile and unpredictable nature of security dynamics in Northeast Asia. North Korea’s missile launches serve as both a reminder of the regime’s growing military capabilities and a challenge to efforts aimed at denuclearization and peace. As the international community watches closely, the coming weeks—marked by summits and party congresses—may well determine whether the peninsula moves closer to dialogue or further into confrontation.
In a region where every launch, every meeting, and every statement can tip the balance, Sunday’s events have once again underscored just how high the stakes remain.
