North Korea launched at least 23 missiles on Wednesday, one of which fell near South Korean territorial waters, sparking a sharp rise in tensions with its southern neighbor who retaliated by launching three missiles towards the sea.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol blasted Pyongyang’s “provocation”, denouncing a “de facto territorial invasion”.
Russia called on “everyone to keep calm”, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “All parties to this conflict must avoid taking any steps that could cause tensions to rise,” he said, stressing that the “situation on the peninsula is already tense enough.”
The North Korean military also fired more than 100 artillery rounds in the maritime “buffer zone” between the two countries, as South Korea and the United States carried out in the region. important aerial maneuvers denounced by Pyongyang.
Three North Korean short-range ballistic missiles were launched at 8:51 a.m. local time, and one crossed the “Northern Limit Line”, which is the de facto maritime border between the two countries.
The firing prompted a rare airstrike alert on the South Korean island of Ulleungdo, about 120 km east of the Korean peninsula, where residents were told to take shelter in bunkers.
According to the Seoul military, it was “the first time since the division of the peninsula” after the Korean War in 1953 that a North Korean missile fell so close to southern territorial waters.
Yoon “stressed that the North Korean provocation is a de facto territorial invasion by a missile that crossed the Northern Limit Line for the first time since the division” of the peninsula, the South Korean presidency said in a statement. a statement.
Before and after the launch, North Korea launched a total of 22 other projectiles during the day Wednesday, including short-range ballistic missiles and surface-to-air missiles, according to the South Korean military. And at the beginning of the afternoon, again according to Seoul, the North Korean army launched around a hundred artillery fire from Kangwon province, in the south-east of the country, towards the interior of the ” border buffer zone established in 2018 in the hope of reducing tensions and the risk of armed incidents between the two countries.
One of the missiles launched on Wednesday morning ended its course at sea just 57 kilometers from the South Korean city of Sokcho, in northeastern South Korea, said the South Korean army, which described it as “very rare and intolerable” this unprecedented salvo.
She announced in the wake of having fired, for her part, three air-to-surface missiles near the inter-Korean maritime border.
President Yoon called a National Security Council meeting over the incident, one of the most aggressive in years, analysts say. The South Korean president also ordered “swift and severe measures so that North Korea pays a high price for its provocations”.
South Korea has closed several air routes over the Sea of Japan, advising airlines to detour to “ensure the safety of passengers on routes to the United States and Japan”.
“Watchful Storm”
Seoul and Washington are currently holding the largest joint air exercise in their history, dubbed “Vigilant Storm”, involving hundreds of warplanes from both armies.
Pak Jong-chon, field marshal and secretary of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, called the drills aggressive and provocative, North Korean state media reported on Wednesday.
According to him, the name of these maneuvers echoes Operation “Desert Storm”, the name given to the military operations of the coalition led by the United States against Iraq in 1991 after the invasion of Kuwait.
“If the United States and South Korea try to use their armed forces against the (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) without fear, the special means of the DPRK armed forces will accomplish their strategic mission without delay,” said Mr. Pak, according to state agency KCNA.
“The United States and South Korea will have to […] pay the most horrible price in history,” the marshal threatened.
Close to South Korea
The missiles fired by North Korea on Wednesday constitute “the most aggressive and threatening show (of force) against the South since 2010”, Cheong Seong-chang, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, told AFP. “This is a dangerous and unstable situation that could lead to armed (clashes),” he added.
In March 2010, a North Korean submarine torpedoed a South Korean corvette, killing 46 sailors. In November of the same year, the North had bombarded an island bordering South Korea, causing the death of four people, two civilians and two soldiers.
Wednesday’s firings come after another long series in September and October, which the North has called tactical nuclear exercises.
Washington and Seoul repeatedly warn that Pyongyang could carry out a new nuclear test which would be the 7th in its history.
“As long as I can remember, North Korea has never carried out such a provocation when South Korea and the United States were carrying out joint maneuvers,” Park Won-gon, a professor at the University, told AFP. Ewa University. “Pyongyang seems to have completed its most powerful (measure of) deterrence. It is a serious threat. The North also seems confident in its nuclear capabilities. »