North Korea fired the highest number of short-range missiles in a day, says South Korea - CNN

Seoul, South Korea CNN  — 

The South Korean subject said Wednesday North Korea launched the highest fig of short-range missiles successful a time arsenic Seoul retaliated to Pyongyang’s latest barrage of weapons tests, further escalating tensions successful the region.

North Korea fired arsenic galore arsenic 23 missiles of antithetic types to the eastbound and westbound of the Korean Peninsula, including a surface-to-air rocket into the waters disconnected the eastbound and westbound coasts of the Korean Peninsula, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry.

One of the missiles launched by Pyongyang was a short-range ballistic rocket that landed adjacent to South Korean territorial waters for the archetypal clip since the part of Korea, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

JCS said the rocket landed successful planetary waters 167 kilometers (104 miles) northwest of South Korea’s Ulleung island, astir 26 kilometers southbound of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) – the de facto inter-Korean maritime borderline that North Korea does not recognize.

Japan’s Defense Ministry said North Korea conducted different motorboat aboriginal connected Wednesday, including astatine slightest 1 much ballistic rocket toward the eastbound that has fallen into the oversea extracurricular of Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The ballistic rocket flew a abbreviated region astatine a maximum altitude of little than 50 km, Toshiro Ino, the lawman curate of defense, told reporters connected Wednesday evening section time.

“North Korea has rapidly escalated its provocations, launching much than a twelve missiles contiguous unsocial and reportedly firing much than 100 artillery shells into the Japan oversea since announcing an highly provocative connection earlier successful the day” Ino said.

No harm to craft oregon vessels has been confirmed arsenic of now.

When asked whether North Korea had successful the past launched this galore missiles passim a day, Ino told reporters that successful 2006 and 2009 the North had fired respective missiles passim the time from 3 a.m. to 5 p.m. section time, and 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. section time, respectively, without mentioning an nonstop fig of missiles.

A South Korean defence authoritative said earlier the missiles landed to the westbound of the peninsula successful the Yellow Sea, known arsenic the West Sea successful Korea, and to the eastbound successful the Sea of Japan, besides known arsenic the East Sea.

An aerial raid informing on Ulleung island, located astir 120 kilometers eastbound of the peninsula, was lifted astir 2 p.m. section clip connected Wednesday. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said the North Korean trial was an “effective territorial encroachment.”

At an exigency National Security Council (NSC) meeting, Yoon “ordered that a stern effect beryllium swiftly taken truthful that North Korea’s provocation pays a wide price,” according to South Korea’s statesmanlike office.

In an contiguous response, South Korea launched 3 air-to-surface missiles from F-15K and KF-16 combatant jets connected Wednesday morning, according to JCS.

JCS said the South Korean Air Force targeted planetary waters northbound of the NLL astatine an adjacent region to that which the North Korean rocket had earlier landed southbound of the line.

“Our military’s precise onslaught showed our volition to firmly respond to immoderate North Korean provocations including short-range ballistic missile, and our capableness and readiness to precisely people the enemy,” JCS said.

North Korea is “fully responsible” for the concern arsenic they are the ones continuing to provoke contempt warnings, JCS added.

On Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that North Korea is launching missiles astatine an “unprecedentedly precocious frequency.”

Kishida besides called for a National Security Council gathering to beryllium held arsenic soon arsenic imaginable owed to the rising tensions connected the Korean Peninsula.

“North Korea’s unprecedented motorboat of aggregate ballistic missiles is recklessly threatening the information of the Republic of Korea,” Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Penny Wong, tweeted connected Wednesday.

“Pyongyang indispensable cease this action,” she added.

Moscow urged North and South Korea to debar steps that “could provoke a further summation successful tension,” arsenic it contends with fractured planetary relations amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brutal penetration of Ukraine.

“The concern is already precise tense connected the peninsula, and we impulse everyone to stay calm and debar steps that could provoke a further increase,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said connected Wednesday.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield condemned North Korea’s unprecedented rocket motorboat overnight.

Thomas-Greenfield told CNN connected This Morning with Don Lemon, Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow that the motorboat breaks “multiple Security Council resolutions” and said the UN would beryllium “putting pressure” connected China and Russia to amended and heighten specified sanctions.

She declined to accidental whether US President Joe Biden would rise it with China’s President Xi astatine the G20, but added it was “on the President’s mind.”

The motorboat is North Korea’s 29th this year, according to a CNN count, and comes aft a North Korean authoritative warned successful a connection earlier Wednesday that the United States and South Korea would wage the “most horrible terms successful history” for immoderate subject enactment against Pyongyang.

The aggressive acceleration successful weapons investigating and rhetoric has sparked alarm successful the region, with the US, South Korea and Japan responding with rocket launches and associated subject exercises.

On Monday, the United States and South Korea began antecedently scheduled large-scale subject exercises called “Vigilant Storm.”

The maneuvers impact 240 craft and “thousands of work members” from some countries, according to the US Defense Department.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to conscionable with his South Korean counterpart Lee Jong-sup astatine the Pentagon connected Thursday.

Experts person antecedently told CNN that North Korean person Kim Jong Un could beryllium sending a connection by deliberately showcasing the nation’s arsenal during a play of heightened planetary conflict.

Last month, North Korean authorities media broke six months of soundlessness implicit this year’s spate of rocket tests, claiming they were meant to show Pyongyang’s readiness to occurrence tactical atomic warheads astatine imaginable targets successful the South.

The latest tests besides travel aft the caput of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog warned past week that Pyongyang could beryllium preparing for a atomic trial – its archetypal since 2017 – with outer imagery showing enactment astatine its underground atomic trial site.

“We are pursuing this very, precise closely. We anticipation it doesn’t hap but indications unluckily spell successful different direction,” said International Atomic Energy Agency main Rafael Grossi past Thursday.

Correction: This communicative has been updated to clarify that this is not the archetypal clip North and South Korea person fired missiles disconnected their respective coasts, and to bespeak that North Korea fired a fig of missiles of assorted types and the region successful kilometers from the NLL.