New ballistic missile test, passages of fighter planes, multiple artillery fire at sea: Pyongyang engaged in demonstrations of military force on Thursday and Friday near the border with South Korea, claiming to respond to ” provocations” from Seoul. North Korea has in recent weeks stepped up weapons tests described as simulated “tactical nuclear” strikes against targets in South Korea. Seoul and Washington also expect that Pyongyang, which considers itself threatened by American, South Korean and Japanese military maneuvers in the region, will soon resume its nuclear tests.
A ballistic missile fired in response to a South Korean artillery drill
According to the official North Korean agency KCNA, a ballistic missile was fired towards the sea on the night of Thursday to Friday, in response to an artillery exercise by South Korea. A North Korean army spokesman quoted in a statement accused the South Korean army of carrying out “artillery fire for about ten hours” near the border on Thursday. The North Korean army “took strong military countermeasures” in response to this “provocative action”, the statement carried by KCNA added.
Pyongyang issued “a stern warning to the South Korean military who are stirring up military tension in the frontline area through their reckless actions,” the statement continued. According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missile was launched from Sunan area in Pyongyang in the early hours of Friday.
Between 11:30 p.m. Thursday and 12:20 a.m. Friday local time, shortly before the last missile was fired, ten North Korean fighter jets flew over an area 25 km from the border with South Korea on Thursday, which in turn sent aircraft in response, according to the South Korean General Staff quoted by Yonhap. The North Korean planes crossed a “reconnaissance line”, triggering an automatic response from the South, according to the same source. Seoul has launched fighter jets, including F-35As. This is the second major deployment of combat aircraft in a week.
170 artillery fires in North Korean waters
North Korea then carried out 170 artillery fire into its waters on its east and west coasts, in violation of a “buffer zone” established during a 2018 agreement with the South to prevent incidents at sea, according to the South Korean General Staff. “We urge them to stop immediately,” a statement from the general staff warned.
But on Friday evening, the South Korean military announced that the North had fired 80 additional artillery rounds on its east and west coasts, which also fell into the “buffer zone”. “The North seems to have taken the South’s recent artillery test very seriously,” Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification told AFP. According to this analyst, the shootings in the maritime “buffer zone” look like “an attempt to test Seoul’s response”.
On Wednesday, two long-range strategic cruise missiles were fired by North Korea. Leader Kim Jong Un, who witnessed the firing, expressed “great satisfaction” over the readiness of the country’s nuclear combat forces, according to KCNA.
These shots “threaten the peace of the region”, says the United States
The United States condemned the latest ballistic missile launch. “This launch, along with others over the past month, violates multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions” and “threatens the peace and stability of the region,” a State Department spokesperson said. . He lamented that North Korea “refuses to respond” to US offers of dialogue.
Earlier this week, Kim Jong Un dismissed the idea of resuming talks on its banned weapons programs, saying North Korea “didn’t feel the need to do so”. South Korea’s National Security Council for its part condemned the “hostile actions” overnight, warning that “such provocations will have consequences”. Seoul also imposed its first unilateral sanctions in five years on Friday, targeting North Korean individuals and institutions.
Rising tensions
Tensions have been rising on the Korean peninsula since the beginning of the year. In response to Pyongyang’s weapons tests, South Korea and the United States have stepped up joint military exercises. But North Korea sees these maneuvers as a rehearsal for an invasion of its territory, and has responded with new rounds of missile tests.
Last month, North Korea also declared that its status as a nuclear power was “irreversible”, definitively closing the door to any disarmament negotiations, and let it be known that it authorized itself to carry out preventive strikes in the event of a threat. . Both Seoul and Washington have been warning for months against the risk of Pyongyang carrying out a nuclear test, which would be the seventh in its history and the first since 2017.