North Korea unleashes deadly ballistic missile salvo into the sea as it makes chilling threats of conflict and US – South Korean troops go on high-alert during military drills
Rogue state North Korea has threatened war against the US and South Korea followed up by firing off several ballistic missiles into the sea this morning.
Pyongyang is furious over the start of US – South Korean military exercises which it believes are preparations for a so-called invasion of the North. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry warned the latest training risks triggering “physical conflict” on the Korean Peninsula.
It branded the drills an “aggressive and confrontational war rehearsal” and reiterated leader Kim Jong Un’s stated goals for a “radical growth” of his nuclear force. US and South Korean troops were put on high-alert over the alarming demonstration of dictator Kim Jong-Un’s firepower. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile firings, North Korea’s fifth missile launch event this year, were detected from the North’s southwestern Hwanghae province.
It called the weapons close-range but did not say how far they flew. The military said South Korea bolstered its surveillance posture and is closely coordinating with the United States. Earlier today, the South Korean and U.S. militaries began their annual Freedom Shield command post exercise, their first of President Donald Trump’s second term.
This year’s training came after the South Korean and U.S. militaries paused live-fire training while Seoul investigates how its fighter jets mistakenly bombed a civilian area during a warm-up drill last week. About 30 people were injured, two of them seriously, when two South Korean KF-16 fighter jets mistakenly fired eight MK-82 bombs on a civilian area in Pocheon, a town near the North Korean border, on Thursday.
It happened while South Korean and U.S. forces were engaging in a live-fire drill ahead of the Freedom Shield exercise. The South Korean air force believes one of the KF-16 pilots entered the wrong coordinates and failed to visually verify the target before proceeding with the bombing. The second pilot had the correct coordinates but focused only on maintaining flight formation and dropped the bombs on the first pilot’s instructions.
General Lee Youngsu, chief of staff of the South Korean air force, apologised today over the injuries and property damage caused by the bombing, which he said “should have never happened and must never happen again.” Both the South Korean and U.S. militaries have halted all live-fire exercises in South Korea following the mistake.
South Korean military officials say live-fire training will resume after they complete the investigation of the bombing and form preventative steps. The South Korean air force earlier suspended the training flights of all its planes too but lifted the steps on Monday, except aircraft affiliated with the unit the two KF-16s belong to.
