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 on Wednesday.
South Korea’s Inter-Arms General Staff said “North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea,” the name given by the two Koreas to the Sea of Japan.
Japan’s Defense Ministry also recorded the new firing of an apparent North Korean ballistic missile, the first of its kind since June 15, indicating that it is gathering data to assess whether it poses any kind 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 forceful actions” to what she described as “aerial espionage” operations.
The regime’s deputy propaganda director stressed that Washington’s actions are “clearly a serious violation of North Korea’s sovereignty and security.”
Kim Yo-jong stated that “A US Air Force strategic reconnaissance aircraft has again carried out aerial reconnaissance of the eastern part of the DPRK [República Popular Democrática da Coreia, o nome oficial da Coreia do Norte] entering the skies of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) above the Military Demarcation Line (MDL),” according to a statement from the state news agency KCNA.
The device “carried out a serious military provocation by conducting aerial reconnaissance” over the waters of North Korea’s EEZ, reaching about 400 kilometers from the country’s southeast coast, it added.
Following the failure of the 2019 denuclearization talks, tensions have risen again on the Korean peninsula.
Pyongyang rejected any initiative for dialogue and carried out a record number of missile tests, while Seoul and Washington resumed major joint military exercises and regularly deployed US strategic assets to the region.
Source: TSF
