The two Koreas today exchanged missile launches that fell into their respective waters for the first time and, in the case of Pyongyang, fired around 20 missiles throughout the day, a record figure for the North Korean regime that further worsens a climate of regional tension that could reach historic heights.
The South Korean military first reported that Pyongyang had fired three short-range ballistic missiles from near Wonsan, on North Korea’s eastern coast, into the Sea of Japan (called the East Sea in the two Koreas) at around 8:51 a.m. today ( 23.51 GMT on Tuesday).
One of them landed on the high seas, 26 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which divides the waters of both countries, and about 57 kilometers east of the coastal city of Sokcho (160 kilometers northeast of Seoul). , within the South Korean special economic zone.
“This is the first time since the division (of the peninsula) that a North Korean launch has landed in our national waters,” Lt. Gen. Kang Shin-chul, chief of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement sent to the media shortly after. JCS), who added that the action is “absolutely unacceptable” and that the South Korean military would respond “decisively.”
flak alert
That North Korean missile also fell 167 kilometers northwest of Ulleung Island, where the anti-aircraft alert was activated, apparently because the missile initially appeared to be aimed there.
The first level of alert, which involves the publication of sound warnings on municipal loudspeakers and on mobile phones and televisions, was maintained on the island, of some 9,000 inhabitants, for about five hours.
The JCS, which noted that the details of the projectile’s trajectory “are still being analyzed”, reported after Pyongyang fired around 20 missiles of different types in total throughout this Wednesday, a figure that represents a record of tests carried out in a single day for the Pyongyang regime.
In addition to the three initially reported missiles, there are another four short-range ballistic missiles fired about two hours earlier from North Pyongan (north of Pyongyang).
Also more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles and surface-to-air missiles launched later, at 9.12 local time (0.12 GMT), from different points.
Around 1:27 p.m. local time (4:27 GMT) also fired a hundred artillery rounds at a border area with the NLL on the eastern coastwhich violates an agreement signed between the two Koreas in 2018 by which they promised not to carry out military activities in those areas along the maritime divide.
Finally, Pyongyang apparently fired another six short-range projectiles, both at the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, between 4:30 p.m. and 5:10 p.m. (7:40 a.m.-8:10 a.m. GMT), one of which was detected by the Japanese authorities.
Air routes closed
The North Korean launches forced the South to close some air routes that fly over its eastern coast, mainly those that affect flights to and from the US and Japan, and the Ministry of Transportation indicated that this measure will be in force until early Thursday. .
For its part, South Korean and US Foreign Ministers Park Jin and Antony Blinkenspoke by phone about the launches, calling them “an unprecedented and serious military provocation” as well as “deploring” that the missile tests came at a time of national mourning in the South over the Halloween tragedy in Seoul.
These North Korean launches are intended to be in any case a response to the huge air maneuvers that Seoul and Washington are holding until Friday in the region.
The day before, the Kim Jong-un regime already warned that it would retaliate “more powerfully” for considering these exercises – which have involved the deployment of some 240 aircraft (including state-of-the-art stealth fighters) and are the largest of the allies in five years – a threat to its sovereignty.
South Korean response
Following the North Korean launches, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.
That retort came shortly after its announcement, as the South Korean military later fired three air-to-ground precision missiles from F-15 and F-16 fighters “into open ocean waters north of the NLL,” which has also led to the first time Seoul has sent such projectiles into waters belonging to its neighbor’s EEZ.
The tension on the peninsula has increased to dangerous levels in recent weeks due to the insistent northern launches, the great maneuvers of the allies that include Washington’s strategic assets, and the possibility that Pyongyang, as indicated by the satellites, could carry out soon its first nuclear test in five years.
Although the figures vary according to the type of classification, Today’s is the 36th North Korean release so far this year. (a record number), according to the database of the American NGO Nuclear Threat Initiative.
EFE International news agency based in Madrid and present in more than 110 countries.