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In the aftermath of a sharp rise in tension on the peninsula, North Korea fired three shells on Thursday: two short-range missiles followed by an ICBM that apparently failed. These strikes triggered an alert on the South Korean island of Ulleungdo and Japan.
On Thursday (November 3) North Korea fired three new shells, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that apparently failed, the day after a record fire volley that raised tension in the region to a climax.
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, three shells – two short-range missiles followed by an ICBM – were launched Thursday morning from the north towards the Sea of Japan.
“North Korea’s launch of an ICBM was in danger of ending in failure” during the separation of the rocket’s second stage, the South Korean military said. According to her, this missile traveled 760 km at a maximum altitude of 1,920 km and at the speed of Mach 15 (15 times the speed of sound). The other two missiles traveled about 330 km at Mach 5 and a maximum altitude of 70 km.
According to local media, the anti-aircraft sirens went off for the second consecutive day on the South Korean island of Ulleungdo, located 120 km east of the Korean peninsula.
An alert was also triggered in northern Japan even if, contrary to what was initially stated by the authorities, the missile eventually did not fly over the archipelago. According to Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, the bullet “disappeared on the Sea of Japan”.
“outrage”
“The continuous bombardment of missiles day after day is an outrage and cannot be tolerated,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday.
The launch “underscores the need for all countries to fully implement the Security Council resolutions” sanctioning North Korea, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
On October 4, a North Korean ballistic missile flew over Japan for the first time in five years. On Wednesday, North Korea had already launched 23 missiles, one of which had crossed the “Northern Limit Line” (NLL) that extends the inter-Korean land border into the sea, while remaining in international waters. According to the South Korean military, it was the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953 that a North Korean bullet ended its course this close to southern territorial waters.
The United States and South Korea have been warning for months that North Korea is preparing to carry out a nuclear test, which would be the seventh in its history and the first in five years.
The recent series of layoffs “are preliminary celebrations for their future nuclear test,” predicted Ahn Chan-il, a researcher in North Korea. “It also looks like a series of practical tests for their tactical nuclear deployment,” he told AFP.
With AFP
