Seoul’s joint chiefs of staff did not immediately say what type of missile was fired or how far it flew. The launch came after North Korea fired dozens of missiles last week in an angry reaction to a massive US-South Korea combined air exercise that North Korea described as an invasion drill.
Earlier on Wednesday, the South Korean military said debris recovered from one of the North Korean missiles that flew south last week was determined to be a Soviet-era anti-aircraft weapon dating from the 1960s.
North Korea’s military said Monday that its launches last week were simulations to “mercilessly” attack key South Korean and US targets, such as air bases and operations command systems.
He said those tests included ballistic missiles loaded with scatter warheads and underground infiltration warheads intended to launch strikes against enemy air bases, surface-to-air missiles designed to “annihilate” enemy aircraft at different altitudes and distances, and strategic cruise missiles that they fell. The southeast coast of South Korea.
North Korea described those launches as a fitting response to the joint U.S.-South Korea “Storm Watcher” air force exercises involving some 240 warplanes, including B-1B supersonic bombers and fighter jets. Advanced F-35s.
Wednesday’s launch also came as votes were counted in the US midterm elections. Some experts had previously said the US election results were unlikely to change the Biden administration’s policies on North Korea.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that an analysis of a 3-meter (9.8-foot) long wreck removed on Sunday from waters near Korea’s eastern sea boundary showed it to be one of the North Korean SA-5 from surface to surface. air missiles The ministry said the Russian military used a similar missile to execute ground attacks during its invasion of Ukraine.
Photos released by the South Korean military show what appears to be a mangled rocket motor and wires sticking out of a broken rocket body that is still attached with fins.
The missile, which was one of more than 20 missiles North Korea fired last Wednesday, flew in the direction of a populated South Korean island and landed near the rivals’ tense sea border, setting off air raid sirens and forcing residents of Ulleung Island to evacuate.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it “strongly” condemns North Korea’s launch of the SA-5, which it sees as a violation of a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement to de-escalate tensions.
North Korea fired dozens of missiles last week, including an intercontinental ballistic missile that prompted evacuation warnings in northern Japan, in an angry reaction to a massive US-South Korea combined air drill that the North described as a invasion test.
Some experts say North Korea may have drawn on inventory of some of its older weapons to support the expanded scale of last week’s launches, which the North has described as simulated strikes against key South Korean and US targets. , such as air bases and operations command systems. .
The launches added to North Korea’s record pace in weapons tests this year as the leader. kim Jong Un exploits the distraction created by Russia’s war against Ukraine to accelerate weapons development and increase pressure on the United States and its regional allies.
“The North Koreans would like to show off their range of missile technologies through these tests, but not every launch has to reveal the latest technological advances,” he said. sooo kimsecurity analyst for the RAND Corporation, based in California.
“It may be in North Korea’s interest to keep some of its modern capabilities in reserve and test them at opportune times. Kim, again, is playing a longer game, so revealing all his cards, the different types of missiles and capabilities his country has acquired, would not work in his favor,” he said.