North Korea fires artillery and flies jets near border as South Korea, U.S. pledge cooperation - Reuters

SEOUL, Nov 4 (Reuters) - South Korea said it scrambled warplanes successful effect to 180 North Korean subject flights adjacent the countries' shared borderline connected Friday, hours aft the North fired astir 80 artillery rounds successful protestation of Seoul's associated subject drills with the United States.

North Korean craft were detected successful aggregate areas northbound of the "tactical enactment line" northbound of the Military Demarcation Line betwixt the 2 Koreas, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The flights occurred betwixt 11 a.m. (0200 GMT) and 3 p.m. The virtual enactment is drawn northbound of the subject borderline and is utilized arsenic a ground for South Korean aerial defence operations, a South Korean authoritative said.

He declined to springiness the virtual line's region from the MDL, but section quality reports said it was 20 to 50 kilometres (12 to 31 miles).

South Korea scrambled 80 aircraft, including F-35A stealth fighters, successful response, portion astir 240 jets participating successful the Vigilant Storm aerial exercises with the United States continued their drills, the subject said.

A formation of 10 North Korean warplanes made akin manoeuvres past month, prompting South Korea to scramble jets.

The North's manoeuvres travel the firing of much than 80 rounds of artillery overnight and the motorboat of aggregate missiles into the oversea connected Thursday, including a imaginable failed intercontinental ballistic rocket (ICBM).

North Korea besides fired astatine slightest 23 missiles connected Wednesday - a grounds for a azygous day.

The bid of launches prompted the United States and South Korea to widen the Vigilant Storm drills, which person angered Pyongyang.

Meeting successful Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup pledged to question caller measures to show the alliance's "determination and capabilities" pursuing repeated North Korean provocations, according to a associated connection betwixt the 2 countries.

A elder U.S. medication authoritative said connected Thursday that though the United States had said since May that North Korea was preparing to resume atomic investigating for the archetypal clip since 2017, it was not wide erstwhile it mightiness behaviour specified a test.

The United States believes China and Russia have leverage to transportation North Korea not to resume atomic weaponry testing, the authoritative told Reuters.

Diplomats said Washington had asked the U.N. Security Council to convene publically connected North Korea connected Friday, a petition backed by different assembly members Britain, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway.

In caller years the 15-member assembly has been divided connected however to woody with North Korea and successful May, China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-led propulsion to enforce much U.N. sanctions successful effect to North Korean rocket launches.

In Seoul, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned North Korea for threatening planetary information with repeated rocket launches and urged Pyongyang to instrumentality to dialogue.

"I deliberation the Pyongyang authorities is solely liable for the existent situation," Steinmeier said via an interpreter during a quality league aft talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Pyongyang, meanwhile, has condemned allied subject drills.

On Thursday, Pak Jong Chon, caput of the Central Committee of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, said Washington and Seoul had made a precise unsafe determination by extending the exercises, and were "shoving" the concern retired of control.

"The United States and South Korea volition find that they person made a unspeakable mistake that cannot beryllium reversed," said Pak.

Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Jack Kim and Gerry Doyle

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