South hits back as North Korea fires most missiles in a day

North and South Korea have fired a number of missiles into waters near each other’s coasts in a escalation that is marked of.

The North launched its most missiles in one day that is single at the least 23 – including one that landed less than 60km (37 miles) from the South’s city of Sokcho.

Seoul responded with warplanes firing three air-to-ground missiles over the maritime demarcation line that is disputed.

Later on Pyongyang fired six more missiles and a barrage of 100 artillery shells.

The North says the launches are in reaction to large-scale exercises that are military being held by South Korea plus the United States, which it calls “aggressive and provocative”.

On Tuesday, Pyongyang warned they might spend “the most price that is horrible history” if they continued their joint army drills, seen as a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons.

US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and his south counterpart that is korean Park Jin, condemned North Korea’s “escalatory launch of ballistic missiles”.

The North has tested a record range missiles this as tensions have increased year.

Despite crippling sanctions, Pyongyang has conducted six tests that are nuclear 2006 and 2017, and is rumoured to be planning a 7th. This has continued to advance its capability that is armed forces breach of un Security Council resolutions – to threaten its neighbors and potentially even bring the US mainland within striking range.

Wednesday’s exchanges began with missile launches by Pyongyang into waters close to Southern Korea, triggering air raid sirens on Ulleung, an area controlled by Seoul. Residents there had been told to evacuate to shelters which can be underground.

One missile that is ballistic the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a disputed maritime border between the Koreas.

It landed outside South Korea’s territorial waters but it is the closest a north missile that is korean come.

Seoul called it an “unacceptable” breach of its territory.

Officials in the South said the air-to-ground missiles fired by its military landed a distance that is similar the NLL off the North’s coast.

The tit-for-tat launches come as attention is focused on South Korea during a time period of national mourning, after the crowd crush in Seoul at the which killed more than 150 people weekend.

Wargaming a north attack that is korean

South korean officials which are armed forces first said the missile the North had fired over the NLL had been one of at least 10 launched both in east and west instructions on Wednesday morning.

They later updated the North’s tally for the day to 23 launches – seven short-range ballistic missiles and 16 other missiles, including six ones being surface-to-air.

The missile that came nearest South Korea ended up being launched before 09:00 (00:00 GMT) and landed about 26km south regarding the de edge that is facto 57km east of the coastal city of Sokcho and 167km north-west of Ulleung island.

The launch was acquired immediately by South Korean and authorities that are japanese who swiftly condemned the escalation from Pyongyang.

South Korea’s military said it ended up being the time that is first the division of the Korean peninsula after the 1950-53 Korean War that a ballistic missile had “landed south for the NLL near our territorial sea”.

President Yoon Suk-yeol – whom has made it their policy to take a tough line on North Korea – labelled it an “effective territorial invasion”, even though the missile landed outside South Korean territorial waters, vowing a “swift and firm response”.

Under international legislation, countries can simply establish declare that is territorial 12 nautical miles of sea off their coastline.

Tensions have been rising this year – the peninsula has already witnessed a lot more than 50 missile launches from North Korea in 2022, including one missile that is ballistic passed over Japan.

On Monday, a US submarine that is nuclear-powered off the coast of Southern Korea to be a part of the latest in a number of joint US-South Korean drills, which started in August.

Dubbed “Vigilant Storm”, these are typically the biggest workouts Seoul and Washington have ever held, involving hundreds of military aircraft from both sides.