North Korea launched this Thursday dozens of short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of ​​Japan, after sending hundreds of debris-filled balloons south and failing to launch a spy satellite into orbit in a week marked by rising tensions on the peninsula.

This was announced by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The missiles were launched from the Sunan area of ​​Pyongyang. at 6:14 a.m. local time (21:14 GMT Wednesday) and that they flew about 350 kilometers before falling into the Sea of ​​Japan.

It is believed that due to the flight range Approximately 10 projectiles could have been fired from several launchers. which represents an unusually large number of missiles fired by the regime in a single round.

Coordinated response from Seoul, Washington and Tokyo

The South Korean army in a statement condemned North Korea’s latest “provocation” and noted that has “intensified surveillance of additional launches, while closely exchanging information with US and Japanese authorities.”

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in turn, noted that the shells fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. without causing damage to ships or aircraftand said the launches violated UN Security Council resolutions.

In the same spirit, nuclear envoys South Korea, US and Japan discuss coordinated response to test weapons over the phone.

South Korea’s Director General for Nuclear Affairs Lee Joon Il spoke about both the missile launches and other activities of the regime. in previous days with US Under Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Jun Park and his Japanese counterpart Yukiya Hamamoto.

“All three sides condemned the missile launches as violation of UN Security Council resolutions and they emphasized that they pose a serious threat to peace and security,” South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Queue of “provocations”

Today’s test is the first ballistic missile test since Pyongyang tested on the 17th. tactical projectiles equipped with a new “autonomous” navigation systemcame a day after the North sent more than 200 balloons filled with waste to the neighboring country.

Near the largest number of balloons of this type – Similar shipments were sent across the border by the North in 2016 and 2018 – discovered today and come after Pyongyang threatened to respond to anti-government propaganda sent by activists from the South.

In addition, the South Korean army reported that the North tried to interfere with the South’s GPS signals on the sea border The two countries shared a second incident of this type this week, causing disruption to the navigation systems of fishing and passenger vessels in the area.

Likewise, last Monday North Korea notified the Japanese Coast Guard of its intention to launch a new spy satellite and proposed a launch window from now until June 3.

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That same Monday, Pyongyang launched its spacecraft. from its space base in Sohae (northwest of the country) and the South Korean army discovered the projectile “in the form of a large group of fragments” on the North Korean coast just two minutes after launch.

North Korea, which Blamed the launch failure on problems with the rocket enginethereby adding a new failure to its space program after two failed launches in the spring and summer of 2023.

(EFE)