The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday fired several rounds of rocket artillery toward the waters off its western coast, an action coinciding with the arrival of US War Secretary Pete Hegseth at the inter-Korean border.

According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, around ten rounds were launched from multiple rocket launchers into the northern part of the Yellow Sea, roughly an hour before Hegseth visited the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom. The DPRK’s exercise occurred as Washington and Seoul held high-level talks on defense cooperation and the continued stationing of US troops on the peninsula.

The DPRK has not yet issued a public statement on the launch, but the move may be viewed as a calibrated act of deterrence, signaling vigilance and military readiness. The artillery rounds were fired into the sea and posed no threat to civilian areas.

US–South Korea coordination and DPRK’s security posture

Hegseth’s visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), his first since assuming office, comes as Washington encourages Seoul to expand its defense spending and align more closely with US regional strategy. He toured front-line positions alongside South Korea’s defense minister and reaffirmed what he called the “unbreakable alliance” between the two nations.

For the DPRK, such visits and combined drills are seen as provocations. Pyongyang has consistently maintained that the military presence of foreign troops in the South and joint exercises constitute direct threats to its sovereignty and stability.

While rocket artillery drills are not prohibited under international resolutions, the US and South Korea frequently publicize them as "provocations."

The Korean Peninsula remains one of the most heavily militarized regions in the world, with no peace treaty officially ending the 1950–53 war. The DPRK has long advocated for a permanent peace mechanism and the withdrawal of US forces from the South to guarantee stability and genuine regional security.

Read more: Seoul functions as US 'colonial stooge', no partnership possible: Kim

State of Korean reunification

Efforts toward Korean reunification have entered a new and uncertain phase, marked by the DPRK fundamentally redefining its approach and the Republic of Korea (ROK) reshaping its doctrine.

In January 2024, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un declared that reunification "can never be achieved with the ROK authorities that defined 'unification by absorption,'" signaling the end of a decades-old framework that sought gradual reconciliation.

Over the following months, the DPRK dismantled its key institutions for inter-Korean cooperation, including the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification, the National Economic Cooperation Bureau, and the Mount Kumgang International Tourism Administration. It also began removing infrastructure connecting the two Koreas and formally designated the South as a “hostile state.” 

Read more: DPRK dismisses denuclearization as South Korean 'pipe dream'