North Korea fired more than 10 missiles and South Korea retaliated
North Korea fired at least 10 missiles on Wednesday, one of which landed near South Korean waters. Seoul retaliated by denouncing a “territorial invasion”.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on November 2, 2022.
AFP
The two Koreas exchanged missile strikes on Wednesday: Pyongyang launched more than 10, one of which landed near South Korean waters, prompting Seoul to retaliate with three air-to-surface missiles, which South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol condemned as a “true. territorial invasion”.
A short-range ballistic missile attributed to North Korea first crossed the northern demarcation line, the de facto maritime border between the two countries, prompting a rare aerial warning that sent residents of the South Korean island of Ulleungdo to seek refuge in underground shelters.
Seoul’s military says a North Korean missile has landed so close to the South’s territorial seas for the ‘first time since the division of the peninsula’ since fighting in the Korean War in 1953.
Yoon Suk-yeol stressed that “the North Korean provocation is a true territorial aggression, which is the first time a missile has crossed the North’s demarcation line,” the South Korean presidential office said in a press release.
“Extremely rare and intolerable”
The closest-ever missile to South Korea landed in the sea 57 kilometers (35 miles) east of the South Korean mainland, Seoul’s military said, calling Pyongyang’s firing “very rare and intolerable”. “We declare that our army will retaliate decisively,” he added.
Soon after, Seoul’s military fired three surface-to-air missiles near the maritime site where the North Korean missile fell. South Korean military commanders initially said they had identified the launch of three short-range ballistic missiles. But he later announced that North Korea had launched “more than 10 missiles of various types to the east and west.”
President Yun has called a meeting of the National Security Council over the launch, which analysts say is the most “aggressive and threatening” in years. The South Korean president also ordered “swift and severe” measures to ensure North Korea’s provocations pay a heavy price.
Japan has also confirmed North Korean missile launches, with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida telling reporters he “wants to hold a national security meeting as soon as possible.”
“Attention Storm”
Seoul and Washington are currently conducting the largest joint air exercise in their history, dubbed “Vigilent Storm,” involving hundreds of warplanes from both forces.
North Korea’s official newspaper reported on Wednesday that Park Jong Son, a marshal and secretary of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, called the drills an aggression and provocation. According to him, the name of these maneuvers echoes the “Desert Storm” operation, which was given to the military operations of the US-led coalition against Iraq in 1990 and 1991 after the invasion of Kuwait.
“If the United States and South Korea try to fearlessly use their armed forces against (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), the special means of the DPRK armed forces will fulfill their strategic mission without delay,” Pak said. Zhang Son said. Govt run KCNA “The United States and South Korea will have to face a terrible bargain and pay the most terrible price in history,” Park Jong-son said.
Near South Korea
The missiles launched by North Korea on Wednesday were “the most aggressive and threatening (force) against the South since 2010,” Sejong Institute researcher Seong Seong-chang told AFP. “It is a dangerous and volatile situation that could lead to armed (conflicts),” he added.
In March 2010, a North Korean submarine torpedoed the South Korean corvette Cheonan, killing 46 sailors, 16 of whom were serving their mandatory military service. In November of the same year, the North bombed an island bordering South Korea, killing two young soldiers.
Wednesday’s North Korean missile launch comes after a series of launches, including the North’s so-called tactical nuclear exercises. Washington and Seoul have repeatedly warned that Pyongyang could conduct a new nuclear test, the 7th in its history.
“As far as I can remember, North Korea has never done this kind of provocation when South Korea and the United States have carried out joint maneuvers,” Park Won-Gon, a professor at the university, told AFP. Eva told the university. “Pyongyang appears to have completed its strong (scale) deterrence. It is a serious threat. The North also appears to be confident in its nuclear capabilities.
AFP
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