What did Kim Yo-jong say North Korea fired in the Saturday drill near Wonsan?

Kim Yo-jong said North Korea conducted a firing drill at dawn and used an intermediate-range strategic missile. She said the launch was aimed toward the East Sea of Korea and was carried out as a strategic weapon drill.

How far did North Korea’s missile fly in the latest Wonsan launch?

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was fired from the Wonsan area early Saturday and flew over 700 kilometers. The North said the drill verified a special flight mode and claimed the missile could change its flight orbit at low altitude.

What did Kim Jong-un reportedly do during the missile firing drill?

According to KCNA, Kim Jong-un oversaw the drill by a firepower sub-unit. Kim Yo-jong also said the Missile Administration reported that the missile can be configured into at least four flight orbit modes for different purposes and targets.

NK leader's sister says intermediate-range strategic missile was launched during firing drill

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Summary

North Korea said Saturday it fired an intermediate-range strategic missile during a firing drill over the East Sea of Korea earlier in the day. Kim Yo-jong said the drill was carried out at dawn, and Kim Jong-un oversaw it by a firepower sub-unit. South Korea’s military said it detected a ballistic missile from the Wonsan area that flew more than 700 kilometers. Kim said the missile used artificial intelligence and could change its flight orbit at low altitude.

Key Facts

Kim Yo-jong said the drill used an intermediate-range strategic missile and was conducted at dawn toward the East Sea of Korea.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff detected a ballistic missile fired from the Wonsan area early Saturday morning that flew over 700 kilometers.
Kim said the missile can be set to at least four flight orbit modes according to its purpose and target.
Kim also said the missile’s special flight mode had been verified in practice and claimed the enemy failed to track it from its first skip points.

By Yonhap

Published Oct 3, 2026 9:26 pm KST

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, attends a wreath laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, March 2, 2019. AFP-Yonhap

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Saturday the country fired an intermediate-range strategic missile during a firing drill conducted earlier in the day.

"At dawn of this morning, a drill of firing a strategic weapon toward the East Sea of Korea was conducted," Kim Yo-jong said in an announcement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"An intermediate-range strategic missile was used for the drill," she said. Leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the drill by a firepower sub-unit, according to the KCNA.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier detected North Korea firing a ballistic missile toward the East Sea early Saturday morning from the Wonsan area and it flew over 700 kilometers.

Kim claimed that the superiority of the special flight mode applied to the country's missiles has been verified in practice, while the flight distance measured "the enemy" showed "the limitations" of their tracking capability.

"Whenever we applied the wave-like trajectory mode to missiles, the enemy failed to track the targets from their first skip points," she said, adding, "They should acknowledge the speed of the missile."

Kim also said that missile is capable of changing its flight orbit at a low altitude and artificial intelligence was introduced into it. "In other words, this means that there is no way to avoid this attack."

The Missile Administration also reported the North Korean leader that the missile is possible to set at least four flight orbit modes according to a purpose and target, while the leader expressed the belief that any country in the world could not have access to such technology for at least several years.

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