Asia faces a scenario of maximum tension: North Korea launched more than 10 missiles near the coast this Wednesday South Korea and, in response, Seoul fired three precision shells into North Korean waters.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) detailed in a statement that F-15 and F-16 fighters fired these shells “offshore in waters north of the LLN (the Northern Limit Line, which divides the waters of both countries). ” to “answer the provocation “by the North Korean authorities.
One of the North Korean short-range ballistic missiles crashed 26 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line and 57 kilometers east of the coastal town of Sokcho, marking the first time a Pyongyang bullet landed in southern waters.
For this reason, the authorities have launched an unusual air alert on the island of Ulleungdo (east) to ask its inhabitants to take refuge in underground bunkers.
In this context, President Yoon Suk-yeol denounced that this “constitutes a territorial invasion with a missile that for the first time since the partition of the peninsula, after the Second World War, crossed the northern limit line.
Likewise, the president has called a meeting of his National Security Council to analyze the shooting which, for researchers like Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute, is the “most aggressive and threatening armed demonstration against the south since 2010”.
Officer Pak Jong Chon, a senior North Korean official, warned that “if the United States and South Korea intend to use the military against the DPRK without fear, the special means of the DPRK armed forces will deploy the their strategic mission without delay “.
“The United States and South Korea will face a terrible situation and they will pay the most horrible price in history“, he stressed.
Although the figures vary depending on the type of classification, this Wednesday is North Korean launch number 36 so far this year (a record number), according to the database of the American Nuclear Threat Initiative.
Japan meets its security council in the face of tensions in Asia
The tension on the peninsula it has risen to dangerous levels in recent weeks in the face of persistent northward launches, allied maneuvers and the possibility of Pyongyang carrying out its first nuclear test in five years.
Following the launch of North Korea, Japan convened its National Security Council on Wednesday to discuss the tension on the continent. “These repeated missile launches with so high frequencies are unacceptableThis was stated by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
For his part, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada described North Korea’s actions as “a threat to the peace and security of Japan, the region and the international community”, assuring that Tokyo has already urged Pyongyang to initiate a relationship. diplomatic with Beijing.
These North Korean tests “are taking place more frequently than ever,” Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno later said, revealing that during the meeting, in addition to analyzing the launches, they discussed how to proceed in the future “in front of the ‘increase in tension in the nearby peninsula ”.
With information from EFE and AFP.
IT
Source: Clarin
