U.S. Alliances and Indo-Pacific Security

North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles from the Sinpo area toward eastern waters on Sunday. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Japan's Defense Ministry confirmed and tracked the launches. Each missile flew about 140 kilometers before splashing down in waters east of the Korean Peninsula. Sinpo, a major submarine shipyard, was the launch area and analysts are examining whether the weapons were submarine-launched or land-based. If confirmed as submarine-launched ballistic missiles, they would be North Korea's first such test in four years.