North Korea fires multiple CRBMs plus artillery rockets from Chongju into Yellow Sea; flew 80 km, JCS calls mixed salvo rare; comes amid Xi visit speculation
Seoul detected multiple short-range ballistic missiles plus artillery rockets fired from Chongju at 1 p.m. local; projectiles flew about 80 km into the Yellow Sea. The mixed salvo is rare. It comes amid reports Xi Jinping may visit Pyongyang in days, his first trip in seven years
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday it had detected multiple close-range ballistic missiles plus artillery rocket fire launched from the Chongju area in North Pyongan Province at around 1 p.m. local time. The projectiles flew approximately 80 km, or 50 miles, before falling into the Yellow Sea, also known in Korea as the West Sea. Seoul described the mixed salvo of CRBMs and artillery as a rare tactical pattern. Close-range ballistic missiles, by South Korean definition, carry a maximum range of less than 300 km, or about 185 miles. North Korea's previous publicly known launch came on April 18, when it fired short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan, the East Sea in Korean usage. That April test followed a separate launch days earlier of cruise and anti-ship missiles from the Choe Hyon, one of Pyongyang's newer destroyers, an event Kim Jong Un oversaw in person. Tuesday's launch lands in a particular diplomatic moment. South Korean officials told Yonhap they have intelligence that Chinese President Xi Jinping may travel to Pyongyang in the coming days. If confirmed, it would be Xi's first visit to North Korea in seven years and his first since Donald Trump returned to the White House. Beijing's Foreign Ministry on Monday declined to confirm the visit. South Korea's Joint Chiefs said surveillance and monitoring have been stepped up in preparation for possible additional launches, with intelligence shared with the US Indo-Pacific Command and Japan's Self-Defense Forces. Sources: Korea Times via Yonhap (May 26 2026), Newsweek (May 26 2026).