South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the short-range ballistic missiles were fired from a northern inland area and flew about 250 kilometres before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

The joint chiefs said the South Korean military has strengthened surveillance while sharing the launch information with the US and Japanese militaries.

It said it strongly condemns the test, describing it as a “clear provocation” that poses a serious threat to the region’s peace and stability.

It was North Korea’s second launch event of 2025, following a ballistic launch last week.

North Korea said the January 6 test was a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile designed to strike remote targets in the Pacific as leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further expand his collection of nuclear-capable weapons to counter rival nations.

North Korea is coming off a torrid year in weapons testing.

The systems it demonstrated in 2024 included solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to strike the US mainland and various shorter-range missiles designed to overwhelm missile defences in South Korea.

There concerns that its military capabilities could advance further through technology transfers from Russia, as the two countries align over the war in Ukraine.

At a year-end political conference, Kim vowed to implement the “toughest” anti-US policy and criticised the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen security cooperation with Seoul and Tokyo, which he described as a “nuclear military bloc for aggression.”

North Korean state media did not specify Kim’s policy plans or mention any specific comments about Trump.

During his first term as president, Trump met Kim three times for talks on the North’s nuclear program.

Even if Trump returns to the White House, a quick resumption of diplomacy with North Korea could be unlikely.

Kim’s strengthened position — built on his expanded nuclear arsenal, deepening alliance with Russia and the weakening enforcement of US international sanctions — presents new challenges to resolving the nuclear standoff, experts say.