North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Wednesday, that landed less than 60 kilometers off South Korea’s coast.
This was the maiden test missile by North Korea that touched the waters of its southern neighbor that provoked South Korea to give out air raid warnings and launch its own missiles in retaliation.
The missile landed out of the territory of South Korea’s water, however, it was south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) which is a contested inter-Korean maritime border. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol interpreted the act as an “effective act of territorial encroachment.”
South Korea retaliates with a US-built weapons
The South Korean military said that in retaliation its three fighter planes launched air-to-ground missiles into the sea on the north side of the NLL. According to an official, the weapon used was an AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER, a US-built “stand-off” precision attack weapon with a flying capacity of up to 270 kilometers (170 miles) with a 360 kg (800-pound) warhead.
Retaliation from the South occurred after President Yoon pledged a “swift and firm response” so that North Korea “pays the price for provocation”.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea reported that the North Korean weapon was among the three short-range ballistic missiles fired from the North Korean coastal town of Wonsan. Up to 10 different types of missiles, according to the JCS, were launched from North Korea’s east and west coastlines.
They further said that one of them landed 26 km south of the NLL, which was at a distance of 57 km from South Korea’s Sokcho city, on the east coast, and 167 km away from Ulleung Island, where air raid warnings were given.
North Korea calls the drills “aggressive and provocative”
Nuclear-armed North Korea has missile tested a record number of times in 2022 and South Korean and United States officials are of the opinion that the North has finished preparing for all technical arrangements to conduct a nuclear weapon test for the first time since 2017.
North Korea has launched the missiles as an offense to what it sees as “military rashness and provocation” by the joint military exercise by South Korea and the US. It had demanded the allies stop their military exercises which could provoke the country to take “more powerful follow-up measures”. It said, “such military rashness and provocation can no longer be tolerated. The allied drills are aggressive and provocative and specifically targeted North Korea. The hostile forces’ inordinate moves for military confrontation have created a grave situation on the Korean peninsula.”
