New escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula. This Wednesday, a missile fired by North Korea fell near the territorial waters of its southern neighbor and caused the anti-aircraft alert to be activated on a small populated island in the area, a gesture that contributes to further thinning the air that is breathe in the region.
The North Korean projectile flew southeast over the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a dividing line that delimits the waters of both Koreas, and landed "near the territorial waters of South Korea," Lt. Gen. Kang Shin Chul said in a statement. chief of operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). In his opinion, this action is “absolutely unacceptable”, so his army “will respond decisively”.
Seoul initially detected the launch at 8:50 a.m. (23:50 GMT Tuesday) of three short-range ballistic missiles fired from the Wonsan area, on North Korea's eastern coast, into the waters of the Sea of Japan (called the Sea of Japan). East in the two Koreas). Later, they said Pyongyang had fired up to 10 different projectiles in different directions.
The missile that flew over the NLL caused an air raid alarm to be issued on Ulleung, an island off South Korea's east coast where about 9,000 people live.
"The siren started sounding at 8:55 a.m. (local time) and we received a message from our government computer system that this is a 'real life situation,' not a drill," said local official Chung Young Hwan. “We seek protection in an underground shelter for three or four minutes before we go out,” he added. In the end, the missile fell about 167 kilometers northwest of the island.
This is North Korea's biggest challenge since they launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile over northern Japan on October 4.
Today's launch comes at a sensitive time for South Korea, which still mourns the more than 150 dead young people left by the human crush recorded on Saturday night in the Itaewon neighborhood.
Faced with this new escalation, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, to which end he assured that there will be a rapid response and urged preparation for "more provocations" by the Kim Jong Un regime. .
This latest launch, the 36th so far this year, coincides with the celebration this week of the first large-scale joint air exercises of the Seoul and Washington Air Forces.
The exercises include the deployment between Monday and Friday of more than 240 aircraft, including state-of-the-art fighters, and include a continuous 24-hour simulation of interception and air defense operations.
With this mobilization of assets, the participating countries intend to send a message of strength to Pyongyang, which this year has exponentially increased its ballistic tests to levels never seen before and seems to be planning to carry out what would be its seventh nuclear test.
For its part, North Korea demanded on Tuesday the end of these maneuvers and threatened "more powerful" retaliation for considering them a threat to its sovereignty.
In a statement from the Foreign Ministry, Pyongyang assured that the situation in the region has entered "a phase of serious confrontation" due to the "incessant and reckless" military movements of the US and South Korea.
Both countries have carried out joint maneuvers this year in the months of April, August, September and October, which included the participation of a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that especially irritated the North.
Pyongyang called it "absurd" that Washington blames it for increasing tension in the region and said it is willing to take the necessary measures to defend its sovereignty. "If (the US) persists with serious military provocations, we will undertake subsequent more powerful measures," she added.
