North Korea fires 3 missiles amid tensions over drone flights

Seoul, December 31

North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles towards its eastern waters in its latest weapons display on Saturday, a day after rival South Korea launched a solid-fuelled rocket as part of its efforts to build a space-based surveillance capability to better monitor the North.

Tensions between the rival Koreas rose earlier this week when South Korea accused North Korea of flying five drones across the rivals’ tense border for the first time in five years and responded by sending its own drones towards the North.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected the three launches from an inland area south of Pyongyang, the North’s capital, on Saturday morning. It said the three missiles travelled about 350 kilometres (220 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The estimated range suggests the missiles tested target South Korea.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launches “a grave provocation” that undermines international peace. It said South Korea closely monitors North Korean moves in coordination with the United States and maintains a readiness to “overwhelmingly” deter any provocation by North Korea.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said the launches highlight “the destabilising impact” of North Korea’s unlawful weapons programs and that the US commitments to the defence of South Korea and Japan “remain ironclad.” Earlier on Saturday, Japan’s Defence Ministry also reported suspected ballistic missile firings by North Korea.