North Korea fires missiles after slamming US-South Korea drills
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A North Korean flag fluttering at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken inside the demilitarised zone.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SEOUL - North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on March 10, hours after condemning the South Korean and US militaries for launching drills that Pyongyang called a “dangerous provocative act” that risked accidentally sparking a confrontation.
South Korea’s military said the missiles were fired from North Korea’s western region towards the Yellow Sea. The launch was the first reported ballistic missile test since US President Donald Trump took office in January.
The missiles were believed to be close-range ballistic missiles, a South Korean Defence Ministry official said, referring to a type of weapon with a range of under 300km.
The allies’ annual Freedom Shield drills are scheduled to run until March 20, although live-fire exercises remain suspended after South Korean jets mistakenly dropped bombs on a civilian town near the border last week, injuring 29.
North Korea has typically called for US-South Korea joint exercises to be called off, branding them a prelude to an invasion.
The South Korean military has said the joint drills aim to strengthen the readiness of the alliance for threats such as North Korea.
“This is a dangerous provocative act of leading the acute situation on the Korean peninsula, which may spark off a physical conflict between the two sides by means of an accidental single shot, to the extreme point,” the Foreign Ministry said, according to KCNA.
The drills will harm US security, the ministry added.
General Lee Young-su, chief of South Korea’s Air Force, bowed in apology on March 10 over the “unprecedented” accident last week where two jets mistakenly bombed the village.
Yonhap News Agency reported – citing the interim results of the military’s investigation – that a pilot in one jet was pressed for time and did not double-check the target coordinates, while another pilot in the other jet followed and dropped bombs without noticing the incorrect coordinates.
The Defence Ministry was not immediately available for comment.
The area impacted by the accidental bombing in Pocheon, which is about 40km north-east of Seoul, was outside of a training area close to the border with North Korea.
Residents in the area have long complained about the disturbance and risks coming from the exercises. REUTERS
