North Korea fires ballistic missile a day after rejecting Seoul's accusation over wounded soldiers

North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea on Saturday, South Korea and Japan said, a day after Pyongyang rejected Seoul's accusation that North Korean land mines had wounded South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarized Zone.

According to South Korea's military, the missile was launched from the Wonsan area at around 6:30am local time and flew more than 700 kilometers (434 miles) toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan. Seoul and Washington said they were analyzing the test to determine further details about the missile involved.

Rising tensions over DMZ incident

The launch came a day after Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, denounced South Korea over its claim that mines planted by the North had wounded South Korean soldiers along the heavily fortified DMZ separating the two countries. Seoul had demanded an apology over the incident, which North Korea has rejected.

North Korea has a long history of conducting weapons tests, including ballistic missile launches, often timed to coincide with periods of heightened tension with Seoul, Washington, or Tokyo. Saturday's launch fits that broader pattern, though officials have not yet explicitly linked the timing to the mine dispute beyond the proximity of the two events.

South Korean and Japanese officials have not yet released a full technical assessment of the missile, including its type, beyond the distance traveled. Both governments typically conduct a more detailed analysis in the hours and days following such launches.

The incident adds to an already tense period on the Korean peninsula, with both sides trading accusations over the DMZ incident even as North Korea continues to demonstrate its missile capabilities.