North Korea fired at least 10 missiles on Wednesday, including one that landed near South Korean territorial waters for the first time since the division of the peninsula in 1945, South Korean officials said.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said a short-range ballistic missile landed in international waters 167 kilometers (104 miles) northwest of South Korea’s Ulleungdo Island, about 26 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) – the de facto via – Korean maritime borders that North Korea does not recognize.
The air raid warning on the island, located about 120 kilometers east of the peninsula, was lifted on Wednesday afternoon.
South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol said on Wednesday that North Korea’s test was an “effective territorial encroachment”.
At an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) on Wednesday, Yun “ordered a stern response to be taken quickly so that North Korea’s provocation pays a clear price,” according to South Korea’s presidential office.
In an immediate response, South Korea fired three air-to-surface missiles from F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets on Wednesday morning, according to the JCS.
The JCS said South Korea’s air force targeted international waters north of the NLL at a distance equal to where the North Korean missile had earlier landed south of the line.
“The military’s precise strike demonstrated our willingness to respond forcefully to any North Korean provocations, including short-range ballistic missiles, and our ability and readiness to precisely target the enemy,” the JCS said.
North Korea is “fully responsible” for the situation as it continues to provoke despite warnings, the JCS added.
Wednesday’s launch is North Korea’s 29th this year, according to CNN’s count.
The aggressive acceleration in weapons testing has caused alarm in the region, with the US, South Korea and Japan responding with missile launches and joint military exercises.
On Monday, the United States and South Korea began previously planned large-scale military exercises called Vigilant Storm.
The maneuvers involve 240 aircraft and “thousands of service members” from both countries, according to the US Department of Defense.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to meet with his South Korean counterpart Lee Jong-sup at the Pentagon on Thursday.
Experts previously told CNN that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could be sending a message by deliberately showing off the nation’s arsenal during a period of heightened global conflict.
Last month, North Korea’s state media broke a six-month silence on this year’s wave of missile tests, claiming they were intended to demonstrate Pyongyang’s readiness to launch tactical nuclear warheads at potential targets in the South.
The latest tests also come after the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog warned last week that Pyongyang may be preparing for a nuclear test – its first since 2017 – with satellite images showing activity at its underground nuclear test site.
“We are watching it very, very closely. We hope it won’t happen, but the indications unfortunately point in the other direction,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said last Thursday.
Speaking on Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that North Korea was firing missiles at an “unprecedented high frequency”.
Kishida also called for a meeting of the National Security Council as soon as possible due to the rising tension on the Korean peninsula.
Earlier on Wednesday, Japanese Defense Minister Yaukazu Hamada said North Korea had fired at least two missiles, both believed to have fallen outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
No damage to aircraft or vessels has been reported at this time and it is possible that the ballistic missiles flew on an erratic trajectory, he added.
