(Seoul) North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile towards the sea, the Yonhap news agency reported Friday morning, citing the South Korean military.
Posted at 1:53 p.m.
Updated at 2:56 p.m.
The information was released two hours after another information from Yonhap, according to which a dozen North Korean fighter planes flew over an area near the border with South Korea on Thursday, which in turn sent aircraft in response.
The incident, the second in a week involving fighter jets, comes amid growing military tensions on the peninsula, as North Korea has carried out a series of missile launches lately, including on Thursday.
North Korea also accused Seoul on Friday of engaging in “provocative actions” near their common border, accusing the South Korean military of “inciting military tension”, state media reported.
A North Korean army spokesman said the South Korean army on Thursday carried out “artillery fire for about ten hours near the forward defense area of the Korean People’s Army Fifth Corps.” “, According to a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. The Korean People’s Army “took strong military countermeasures” in response to the “provocative action”, according to the statement.
According to the South Korean General Staff, quoted by the Yonhap news agency, ten fighter jets were detected flying 25 kilometers north of the border between the two states between 11:30 p.m. Thursday and 12:20 a.m. Friday local time. The North Korean planes crossed a “reconnaissance line”, triggering an automatic response from the South, according to the same source.
Seoul then sent fighter jets, including F-35As, according to the general staff, Yonhap added.
This episode comes shortly after the test of two long-range strategic cruise missiles by Pyongyang on Wednesday, announced by the official North Korean press, which specifies that these tests were supervised by the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Pyongyang described its recent missile tests as nuclear tactical exercises, simulating strikes on airports and military installations in South Korea.