South Korea fires a salvo of ballistic and cruise missiles

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the South Korean military fired a salvo of ballistic and cruise missiles toward the Sea of ​​Japan (East Sea of ​​the Korean Peninsula), in what appeared to be a response to the previous launch. It was the same day of Pyongyang.

South Korea’s military said at the same time that, if necessary, its forces are ready and capable of carrying out precision strikes against the site where North Korea launched a missile.

On the afternoon of March 24, North Korea launched at least one projectile into the Sea of ​​Japan (East Sea of ​​the Korean Peninsula), the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) said. According to Yonhap, South Korean military officials said it was most likely a long-range ballistic missile using intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology.

South Korea’s National Security Council held an emergency meeting because of the missile launch. JSC said that it is likely that this is a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) named “Hwasong-17” and was launched from Sunan International Airport in the capital Pyongyang. This is the first time since 2017 that North Korea has test-fired a fully functional intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Meanwhile, Kyodo news agency quoted the Japan Coast Guard as saying that this appeared to be a ballistic missile launch, and Japan advised ships to stay away from the area.

The source added that the missile fell inside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) near the waters of Japan’s Aomori Prefecture and there are no reports of casualties or damage related to the launch. The Japanese government has condemned Pyongyang’s ICBM test, which Tokyo accuses of violating UN resolutions.

The Office of the President of South Korea, the Government of Japan has criticized this latest launch by North Korea. While the representative of the group in charge of the transfer of power of the President-elect of South Korea denounced the move as a “seriously provocative step”.

UN Security Council resolutions bar North Korea from testing long-range ballistic missile technology and nuclear testing.

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