North Korea Fires Around 10 Ballistic Missiles Toward East Sea, Seoul Says

North Korea fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, South Korea’s military said, in the North’s first ballistic missile launch in 17 days and a sharp escalation of tensions along the heavily fortified border. The North Korea missiles October 29 launch came about a week after Seoul proposed military talks to ease border tensions — a proposal Pyongyang had left unanswered.

FAKTA

• South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said around 10 short-range ballistic missiles were launched from the Wonsan area on North Korea’s east coast at about 12:30 p.m. local time on October 29.
• Yonhap News Agency reported the missiles flew about 250 kilometres toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
• Japan’s Defence Ministry said an object that could be a ballistic missile fell outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, and no damage to nearby ships or aircraft had been reported.
• South Korea said it stepped up surveillance, maintained readiness for further launches, and was sharing information closely with the United States and Japan.
• The launch was North Korea’s first ballistic missile firing since October 12 and, according to Aju Press, its 17th ballistic missile launch of the year.
• The launch followed a September 21 land-mine blast that injured three South Korean soldiers and Seoul’s October 23 proposal for military talks, which Pyongyang had not answered.

North Korea missiles October 29: what Seoul detected

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missiles were launched from an area around Wonsan, on North Korea’s eastern coast, at about 12:30 p.m. (0330 GMT). “We have stepped up surveillance and vigilance against the possibility of further launches,” the Joint Chiefs said, adding that South Korea, the United States and Japan were closely sharing information on the latest launch while maintaining a high level of military readiness.

Yonhap News Agency reported that the missiles flew about 250 kilometres, and that South Korean and US military authorities were conducting a detailed analysis of the missiles’ flight distances and other technical characteristics. Early reporting differed slightly on the exact count — Reuters described around 10 missiles, while Yonhap reported about a dozen — a common variance while military authorities analyse simultaneous launches.

Japan confirms missiles fell outside its waters

Japan’s Defence Ministry said it had detected a North Korean launch of an object that could be a ballistic missile, and that it was presumed to have fallen outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, the band of sea extending up to 200 nautical miles from Japan’s coast. Japan’s Coast Guard said earlier that the launched projectile could be a ballistic missile and had already fallen into the sea.

Tokyo said Japan, the United States and South Korea were working closely to analyse the launch, and that so far there had been no reports of damage to aircraft or ships operating nearby.

Border tensions behind the launch

Tensions between the two Koreas have heightened since a September 21 land-mine explosion south of the Military Demarcation Line seriously injured three South Korean soldiers. Seoul accused North Korea of planting the mines, while Pyongyang denied responsibility and threatened retaliation, including resuming loudspeaker broadcasts of anti-South propaganda along the border and deploying new weapons systems.

On October 23, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense formally proposed inter-Korean military talks to clarify the exact location of the Military Demarcation Line, restore military communication channels and discuss measures to prevent unintended confrontations near the border. North Korea had not responded to that proposal when Thursday’s missiles were fired. Earlier in the week, a North Korean self-propelled howitzer was spotted along the western front line of the border; a Joint Chiefs official said the military regarded the move as intended primarily “for show” rather than a new weapons deployment.

North Korea last fired ballistic missiles on October 12, and Reuters noted Pyongyang has conducted missile tests on more than 10 occasions this year. More coverage of the region is available on Watan News Asia.