[ad_1]
North Korea fired a ballistic missile into its eastern waters on Friday and flew warplanes near its border with South Korea, South Korea’s military said, adding to hostility over a recent spate of North Korean weapons tests.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch took place early Friday, but gave no further details, including how far the weapons flew.
Japan’s Defense Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office also tweeted that North Korea may have fired a missile.
It was the latest in a string of missiles launched by North Korea in recent weeks. North Korea said on Thursday that leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a test launch of a long-range cruise missile, which he said was a successful demonstration of the North’s military’s expanding nuclear strike capabilities.
North Korea said earlier this week that its missile tests over the past two weeks were a mock nuclear attack on key targets in South Korea and the United States. North Korea said the weapons test was designed to warn Seoul and Washington of a “dangerous” joint naval exercise involving a U.S. aircraft carrier.
North Korea’s launch was part of its record-breaking weapons tests this year and is seen as Kim’s attempt to secure a more formidable arsenal to force his rivals to accept his country as a legitimate nuclear state and lift economic sanctions.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also said in a statement that North Korea flew fighter jets late Thursday and early Friday near the border between the two countries, prompting South Korea to scramble fighter jets.
The North Korean plane was flying 12 kilometers (7 miles) north of the inter-Korean border.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it responded by scrambled F-35 jets and other fighter jets. There are no reports of conflict.
[ad_2]
Source link