North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters in its latest weapons display on Saturday, a day after rival South Korea launched a solid-fuelled rocket.
North Korean drones caused security jitters among many people in South Korea earlier this weekA woman watches a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at a railway station in Seoul on Saturday, after North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles, according to South Korea's military.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launches "a grave provocation" that undermines international peace. It said South Korea closely monitors North Korean moves in co-ordination with the United States and maintains a readiness to "overwhelmingly" deter any provocation by North Korea.The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the launches highlight "the destabilizing impact" of North Korea's unlawful weapons programs and that the U.S.
In this handout image released by the South Korean Defence Ministry, South Korean soldiers operate a Chunma short-range air defence missile system during an anti-drone drill on Thursday in Yangju, South Korea. Since taking office in May, Yoon's government has expanded regular military drills with the U.S. in the face of increasing North Korean nuclear threats. North Korea has called such drills between its rivals an invasion rehearsal and argued its recent missile tests were a response to them. But some experts say North Korea is using the South Korea-U.S. training as a pretext to modernize its arsenal and increase its leverage in future dealings with the U.S.
In March, South Korea conducted its first successful launch of a solid-fuel rocket, and defence officials said Friday's launch was a followup test to the earlier launch. Friday's unannounced launch triggered a brief public scare of a UFO appearance or a North Korean missile firing in South Korea.South Korea currently has no military reconnaissance satellites of its own and depends on U.S. spy satellites to monitor strategic facilities in North Korea.
This photo provided by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, at a plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea at the party headquarters in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Monday.