People watch a television screen at a station in Seoul showing a broadcast with footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on January 20, 2022. North Korea fired what could be a missile ballistics, the Japan Coast Guard said on February 27, 2022.
Jung Yeon-je | AFP | beautiful pictures
South Korea’s military said North Korea appeared to have fired a short-range missile launch on Sunday, amid rising military tensions on the peninsula following a series of larger North Korean missile launches. nuclear weapons.
While they attract much less attention than giant intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), North Korea has exhibited several new types of multiple-launch missile systems in recent years, adding added to an already large artillery and missile arsenal, ideal for potentially offensive targets in the South. .
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement: “This morning there was a shooting incident in North Korea, believed to be multiple missile launches, and our military is monitoring the relevant situation and maintaining it.” maintain a readiness posture,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The Yonhap news agency reported that the North Korean military fired four times at around 7:20 a.m. (22:20 GMT on Saturday) for about an hour toward the west coast of the country from an unspecified location in the southern province of South Korea. Pyongan, Yonhap news agency reported.
The National Security Council of Korea held an emergency meeting of the deputy minister on the launch.
Last year, South Korea approved a plan to pursue a $2.6 billion artillery interception system, similar to Israel’s “Iron Dome,” designed to protect against an arsenal of missiles and guns. North Korea’s range.
About half of South Korea’s 52 million people live in the capital Seoul and surrounding areas, within range of the neighboring country’s long-range guns and many rocket launchers.
Pyongyang has conducted missile launches at an unusually high speed this year. South Korea and the United States have warned that North Korea may continue to test-fire its largest ICBM for the first time since 2017 amid stalled denuclearization talks.
North Korea also appears to be preparing to launch a spy satellite, and new construction has been discovered at its closed nuclear test site.
