Pyongyang says it is reacting to artillery fire from the South Korean army and is taking "strong military countermeasures". A ballistic missile is fired, fighter jets rise near the border. It's the latest skirmish in a series of disturbing events.
North Korea has accused South Korea of "provocative behavior" near the shared border. The North Korean People's Army is sending a "strict warning" to the South Korean military, the North Korean news agency KCNA reported on Friday (local time). Seoul is fueling "military tensions" in the border area with "reckless actions."
According to KCNA, a North Korean army spokesman said the South Korean army fired artillery "for about ten hours" on Thursday. In response to the "provocative behavior," Pyongyang had "taken strong military countermeasures." Shortly before, the South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing the country's armed forces, reported that North Korea had again fired a ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan.
There was also an incident involving fighter jets on Thursday: Yonhap, citing the General Staff in South Korea, reported that ten North Korean fighter jets had been sighted 25 kilometers north of the inner-Korean border. In response, South Korean fighter jets took off.
Despite international criticism, the North Korean military has carried out rocket tests at an unusually high frequency since the end of September. According to the government itself, this should also simulate the shelling of South Korean airfields with tactical nuclear weapons.
On Wednesday, ruler Kim Jong Un witnessed the launch of two long-range cruise missiles, the state news agency KCNA reported. These took off from the western province of South Pyongan in the direction of the Yellow Sea and, after a flight duration of 10,234 seconds, hit their targets 2,000 kilometers away.
Kim then reaffirmed his country's "complete readiness" for an "actual war" and spoke of a "clear warning to the enemy," as the North Korean news agency KCNA reported. Accordingly, the tests should increase the efficiency of the missiles, which "are provided in the units of the Korean People's Army for the use of tactical nuclear weapons," it said.
According to KCNA, the government had previously justified its missile tests in response to recent sea maneuvers by the South Korean and US armed forces, which included the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan for the first time in four years. At the beginning of the month, Pyongyang also launched a medium-range missile over the Japanese archipelago for the first time in five years. The last time North Korea launched a missile over Japan in 2017, the country conducted a nuclear weapons test just days later.
