송상호
| 2023-02-20 10:21:40
(4th LD) N Korea-missile launch
(4th LD) N. Korea fires 2 short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: S. Korean military
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with more info from 2nd para)
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) toward the East Sea on Monday, Seoul's military said, a day after South Korea and the United States staged joint air drills, involving B-1B bombers, in response to the North's long-range missile launch.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the Sukchon area in South Pyongan Province between 7 a.m. and 7:11 a.m., and that the missiles flew some 390 kilometers and 340 km, respectively.
Hours after the launch, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the artillery unit of the Korean People's Army fired two shots from the 600-mm multiple rocket launcher during firing drills, and that they flew 395 km and 337 km, respectively.
The weapon system is a "tactical nuclear attack means boasting of the great might powerful enough to assign only one multiple rocket launcher with four shells so as to destroy an enemy operational airfield," the KCNA said in an English-language report.
In a ceremony to "present" the 600-mm rocket launcher at a key party meeting in late December, the country's leader Kim Jong-un called it an "offensive weapon" capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads that could put all of South Korea within its range.
Some observers here noted that given their flight distance, the rockets fired Monday can reach a South Korean air base in Cheongju known to be home to the South's F-35A stealth fighters. Cheongju is located 112 km south of Seoul.
The KCNA took issue with the allies' stated plan to increase the "frequency and intensity of deploying U.S. strategic assets" to Korea.
The South's military "strongly" condemned the North's latest missile launches as an act of "significant provocation" that harms peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the international community.
It also called the provocation a "clear" violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and urged the North to immediately stop such provocative acts.
"Our military will ensure a firm response posture based on security cooperation among the South, the United States and Japan, and maintain a firm readiness posture based on capabilities to respond overwhelmingly to any North Korean provocations," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.
On Sunday, the allies carried out the air drills, involving the U.S. bombers and South Korean F-35A stealth jets, as the North launched what it claimed to be a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) the previous day.
Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued another sharp-tongued threat of "corresponding" actions against the allies' military drills.
"The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends upon the U.S.," she said in an English-language statement carried by the KCNA.
She said the North is "carefully" examining the impact of the deployment of U.S. strategic assets on its security, vowing to "take corresponding counteraction" if the move is judged to pose any "direct or indirect" threat to the North.
The allies are scheduled to hold a tabletop military exercise against North Korean nuclear threats this week and their springtime Freedom Shield exercise next month.
[https://youtu.be/JSLLYMICrCQ]
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