North Korea fired at least 10 missiles of various types on Wednesday, including one that landed “for the first time near South Korea’s territorial waters,” the South Korean military said.
“This missile launch by North Korea is highly unusual and unacceptable as it fell for the first time near South Korean territorial waters, south of the northern border” since the peninsula was partitioned, the director of operations said. of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea. Kang Shin-chul to reporters.
In a rare airstrike alert broadcast on state television, South Korean authorities urged residents of Ulleung Island, off the east coast, to take shelter in underground shelters after North Korea fired three ballistic missiles. short range
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has called a Security Council meeting to discuss the shootings, which analysts consider the most “aggressive and threatening” in several years.
Japan also confirmed North Korea’s launch of ballistic missiles, with the coast guard warning ships to be careful.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters he wanted to “hold a nationwide security meeting as soon as possible” due to “rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.”
Seoul and Washington are currently conducting the largest joint air exercise in history, dubbed “Storm Watch,” involving hundreds of warplanes from both militaries.
North Korean Marshal and ruling Workers’ Party Secretary Pak Jong Chon said the drills were aggressive, according to official North Korean media.
“If the United States and South Korea attempt to use the armed forces against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea [nome oficial da Coreia do Norte]without fear, the special assets of the DPRK armed forces will carry out their strategic mission without delay,” Pak was quoted as saying by the North’s official KCNA news agency.
“The United States and South Korea will face a terrible case and pay the most horrible price in history,” Pak added.
One of the missiles landed in the high seas just 57 kilometers (35 miles) east of the South Korean mainland, the South Korean military said.
Last Friday, the South Korean military said Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles.
Technically, the two Koreas are still at war, as the 1950-53 conflict ended with the signing of an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Source: TSF
