In what South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol described as "effectively a territorial invasion," North Korea fired more than 10 missiles on Wednesday, one of which came down near South Korea's waters.
In addition, it launched an artillery barrage into a marine "buffer zone," which experts said was part of Pyongyang's "aggressive and threatening" response to the extensive joint air maneuvers that are being conducted presently by the US and South Korea.
The Northern Limit Line, which serves as the de facto maritime border between the two nations, was breached by one short-range ballistic missile, prompting an unusual warning for Ulleungdo residents to take refuge in bunkers.
A North Korean missile landed so close to the South's territorial waters for the "first time since the peninsula was divided" at the end of the Korean War hostilities in 1953, the military said.
"President Yoon pointed out today that North Korea’s provocation is an effective territorial invasion by a missile that crossed the Northern Limit Line for the first time since the division,” his office said in a statement.
The military reported that the missile that was closest to South Korea fell in waters barely 57 kilometers (35 miles) east of the mainland, calling the occurrence "very rare and intolerable."
Soon after, the South Korean military said it launched three air-to-ground missiles into the sea in the direction of the northern portion of the maritime border between the two nations.
Ulleungdo residents received an air raid warning following the North Korean missile launch. The warning instructed citizens to "evacuate to the nearest underground shelter" and was broadcast on national television.
Initial reports from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the military had discovered the launch of three short-range ballistic missiles.
Later, however, it was revealed that North Korea had launched over 10 missiles "of various types today toward the east and west."
Speaking at a meeting of the National Security Council, South Korean President Yoon ordered: "Swift and stern measures so that North Korea's provocations pay a clear price."
To "ensure passenger safety in the routes to the United States and Japan," South Korea closed some flight routes over the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, and advised local airlines to divert.
Vigilant Storm Air Drills.
The most recent test-firing by Pyongyang occurred as hundreds of warplanes from both Seoul and Washington participated in "Vigilant Storm," their largest-ever combined air drills.
According to a report in state media on Wednesday, Pak Jong Chon, a senior North Korean official, called the drills aggressive and provocative.
According to Pak, the exercises' name alludes to Operation Desert Storm, the US-led military offensive against Iraq in 1990–1991 following its invasion of Kuwait.
"If the US and South Korea attempt to use armed forces against the (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) without any fear, the special means of the DPRK’s armed forces will carry out their strategic mission without delay.”
“The US and South Korea will have to … pay the most horrible price in history," Pak said.
‘Dangerous and unstable situation’
According to Cheong Seong-chang, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, who spoke to AFP, North Korea's missile launches on Wednesday seemed to be "the most aggressive and threatening armed demonstration against the South since 2010."
“It is now a dangerous and unstable situation that could lead to armed conflict,” he added.
46 sailors, including 16 who were performing their mandatory military service, were killed when a North Korean submarine sank the South Korean naval ship, Cheonan in March 2010.
The North shelled a South Korean border island in November of that same year, killing two marines, both of whom were young conscripts.
Wednesday's missile tests follow a recent barrage of launches, which the North said included tactical nuclear rehearsals.
The US and South Korea have warned repeatedly that the missile launches could end in another nuclear test, which would be the seventh by Pyongyang.
“Pyongyang seems to have completed its most powerful deterrent. This is a serious threat,” Pak Won-gon, a professor at Ewha University, told AFP.
“The North also seems confident in their nuclear capabilities,” Pak added.
The North's most recent launches came as South Korea entered a period of national mourning following the death on Saturday of more than 150 people, largely young women in their 20s, in a crowd crush in Seoul.
It shows “North Korea’s clear priorities,” Yang Moo-jin, professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
“Pyongyang probably thinks it has no reason to take the Itaewon tragedy into its consideration, as Seoul and Washington’s largest-ever joint air drills are also happening anyway,” he added.
Politics and Opinion
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