On Wednesday, North Korea launched more than 20 missiles, one of which landed close to South Korean waters in what President Yoon Sukyeol referred to as a “virtual territorial aggression.” South Korea responded by firing back.
Experts claimed that it was also a component of North Korea’s “aggressive and threatening” response to a massive joint air exercise between the United States and South Korea.
Residents of Ulleungdo were urged to hide in bunkers after a short-range ballistic missile crossed the Northern Limit Line, which serves as the de facto maritime border.
At the end of the Korean War in 1953, the South Korean military claimed that a North Korean missile had landed so to South Korean waters for “the first time since the peninsula was partitioned.”
In a statement, the Blue House stated, “President Yoon today pointed out that North Korea’s provocation is effective territorial aggression with missiles.”
The army described the incident as “extremely rare and unbearable” after one of the missiles landed in waters 35 miles (57 kilometers) east of the mainland.
According to the South Korean military, North Korea launched 23 missiles, including six surface-to-air missiles and seven short-range ballistic missiles.
During an unfortunate diplomatic match, North Korea also fired artillery into a maritime “buffer zone” established in 2018 to ease tensions between the two countries.
The massive launch’s release, according to Asan Policy Research Institute researcher Ko Myung-Hyun, was “a provocation against South Korea.”
He continued, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they lead to nuclear tests.”
In contrast, South Korea announced that it had fired three air-to-surface missiles into the sea in the direction of the north of the maritime demarcation line that separates the two nations.
“Swift and severe action to ensure that North Korea’s provocations pay a clear price” was the directive given by President Yoon when he convened the National Security Council.
“Ensure the safety of passengers on routes to the United States and Japan,” South Korea has instructed local airlines to divert flights to the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
Russia urged restraint, but European Council President Charles Michel described North Korea’s “aggressive and irresponsible behavior” as “outrageous.”
In retaliation, South Korea labels North Korea’s missile launch “territorial aggression”.
In response to North Korea’s missile launch, South Korea has announced that it has conducted an air-to-ground missile test.
According to Kang Shin-Chul, “North Korea’s missile launch is extremely unusual and unacceptable because it approached South Korea’s territorial waters south of the Northern Limit Line for the first time. JCS’s Director of Operations told the media.
The JCS stated in a statement that missile launches close to South Korean territorial waters were extremely uncommon and unacceptable.
The JCS claims that Ulleungdo received an air raid warning that was broadcast on national television and instructed residents to “evacuate to the nearest underground shelter.”
According to the Ministry of Transportation of South Korea, several sea-based air routes off the east coast of the Korean peninsula have been shut down.
Initially, the JCS stated that it had detected three short-range ballistic missile launches, but it later stated that North Korea had launched “at least 10 missiles of various types to the east and west” today.
Japan also confirmed North Korea’s launch of missiles, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters he would convene a “National Security Council” “as soon as possible.”
Storm warning:
The most recent launch by Pyongyang comes as Seoul and Washington hold “Storm Watcher,” the largest joint aviation exercise in history, in which hundreds of warplanes from both sides participated.
A Wednesday report in the state media said that Park Jong Chong, a senior official in North Korea, described the drill as aggressive and provocative.
According to Park, the exercise’s name is a nod to Operation Desert Storm, the US-led military campaign in Iraq that followed Kuwait’s invasion in 1990 and 1991.
