North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile after Pyongyang threatened to shoot down US spy planes in North Korean airspace, the South Korean military said Wednesday.
The South Korean Inter-Arms General Staff indicated that “North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile towards the Baltic Sea”, the name the two Koreas gave to the Sea of Japan.
Japan’s Defense Ministry also recorded the refiring of an apparent North Korean ballistic missile, the first of its kind since June 15, indicating it is gathering data to assess whether it poses any sort of risk to its territory.
On Monday, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned the United States that Pyongyang would respond with “clear and strong actions” to what he described as “air espionage” operations.
The regime’s deputy propaganda director stressed that Washington’s actions are “clearly a grave violation of North Korean sovereignty and security.”
Kim Yo-jong stated that “a US Air Force strategic reconnaissance aircraft has again conducted aerial reconnaissance of the eastern part of the DPRK [República Popular Democrática da Coreia, o nome oficial da Coreia do Norte] entering the airspace of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) above the Military Demarcation Line (MDL),” said a statement from the state news agency KCNA.
The device “performed a serious military provocation by conducting aerial reconnaissance” over the waters of North Korea’s EEZ, up to about 400 kilometers from the country’s southeastern coast, he added.
After the failure of the denuclearization talks in 2019, tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen again.
Pyongyang rejected all dialogue initiatives and conducted a record number of missile tests, while Seoul and Washington resume major joint military maneuvers and regularly deploy US strategic assets in the region.
Source: DN
