The launch comes just before a summit between South Korea and Japan. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Thursday. A major topic of conversation is North Korea’s missile tests and the country’s nuclear program.
North Korea held a record number of missile tests last year and fired several missiles again this year. On Sunday, the country launched two more strategic cruise missiles from a submarine and on Tuesday it tested two ballistic missiles.
South Korea is responding to its neighbor’s missile tests by, among other things, increasing military cooperation with the United States. Both countries are currently holding major military exercises in South Korea under the name Freedom Shield. North Korea sees those exercises as a threat.