DOMINANT ANGLE
Paris sees these shots as a new episode in an arms technology race between Pyongyang and Seoul, between a hypersonic glider and a missile said to be equipped with AI.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
On Monday, October 12, at around 9:20 a.m., the South Korean military detected several ballistic missiles fired from the Pyongyang region towards the East Sea.
- 02
Seoul tested its first domestically made hypersonic cruise missile on Thursday, after a North Korean hypersonic missile launch that Pyongyang said utilized AI.
- 03
A joint investigation by Seoul and the UN concluded that the North had laid the mines in the DMZ that injured three South Korean soldiers; Pyongyang denies it.
ANALYSIS
Paris, October 12, 2026. The French press reports that North Korea fired several ballistic missiles on Monday, October 12, from the Pyongyang region towards the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan. "Our military detected several ballistic missiles fired from the Pyongyang region [...] at 9:20 am," or 2:20 am in Paris, indicated the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, which has strengthened "surveillance and vigilance in the face of possible additional firings." Initially, the military had reported a "unidentified projectile." According to France 24, Tokyo has separately confirmed the firing of at least one presumed ballistic missile.
French newspapers are framing these firings as part of an arms sequence. On Thursday, Seoul tested a hypersonic glider vehicle, its first such weapon manufactured on its territory. Le Monde and Sud Ouest explain that these gliders, sent into the high atmosphere by rocket propellers, dive towards their target at a speed at least five times that of sound. This test followed a North Korean firing of an intermediate-range hypersonic missile, which Pyongyang says has been equipped with artificial intelligence.
The account focuses on North Korean statements. Kim Yo-jong, the leader's sister, presented this missile as "capable of modifying its flight trajectory at low altitude" and assured that "there is no way to avoid an attack by this type of missile," without detailing the role of AI. Kim Jong-un, for his part, claimed that "no country in the world could have access to such technology for at least several years." Sud Ouest devotes a subheading to "a technological arms race."
The political aspect remains in the background. A dispute erupted at the end of September after the explosion of mines in the demilitarized zone, which injured three South Korean soldiers. According to France 24, a joint investigation by Seoul and the UN concluded that the North had laid them more than a year earlier, which Pyongyang vehemently denies. Seoul has demanded apologies; the North has denied any responsibility and denounced a "provocation." The South Korean government and the US-led multinational force accuse Pyongyang of violating the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War (1950-1953).
The two Koreas remain technically at war, the articles recall. None report any damage or official reaction from Paris at this stage.
