North Korea fires missile, flies warplanes near border as South imposes sanctions - Reuters

SEOUL, Oct 14 (Reuters) - North Korea fired a short-range ballistic rocket into the oversea disconnected its eastbound seashore connected Friday, South Korea's subject said, the latest successful a bid of launches by the nuclear-armed state amid heightened tensions.

South Korea besides scrambled combatant jets erstwhile a radical of astir 10 North Korean subject craft flew adjacent to their heavy fortified border, and North Korea fired immoderate 170 rounds of artillery into "sea buffer zones" disconnected its eastbound and westbound coasts, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) condemned the North for escalating tensions, calling its moves a usurpation of a 2018 bilateral subject pact that bans "hostile acts" successful the borderline area.

Seoul imposed its archetypal unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang successful astir 5 years, blacklisting 15 North Korean individuals and 16 institutions progressive successful rocket development.

The JCS issued a informing to North Korea, urging it to halt provocations and escalating tension.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol told reporters that Pyongyang has been "indiscriminately carrying retired provocations," vowing to devise "watertight countermeasures."

North Korea's subject issued a connection via authorities media KCNA connected aboriginal Friday that it took "strong subject countermeasures," implicit South Korea's artillery occurrence connected Thursday.

South Korea's NSC said the firing was a "regular, legitimate" exercise.

The incidents came aft KCNA said person Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of 2 long-range strategical cruise missiles connected Wednesday to corroborate the reliability of nuclear-capable weapons deployed to subject units.

The unprecedented frequence of North Korea's rocket launches has raised concerns it whitethorn beryllium preparing to resume testing of atomic bombs for the archetypal clip since 2017. Some analysts bash not expect immoderate tests earlier neighbouring China concludes a cardinal ruling Communist Party congress, which begins connected Oct. 16.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said it was alert of the latest rocket motorboat and "it does not airs an contiguous menace to U.S. unit oregon territory, oregon to our allies."

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the North's repeated missiles tests were "absolutely unacceptable," and his state would "drastically strengthen" its defence.

FLARING TENSION

South Korea's JCS said the rocket launched astatine 1:49 a.m. connected Friday (1449 Thursday GMT) from the Sunan country adjacent North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, and flew astir 700 km (435 miles) to an altitude of 50 km astatine a velocity of Mach 6.

Japan's seashore defender besides reported the launch, which was astatine slightest the 41st ballistic rocket trial by the North this year.

The JCS said the craft incidental occurred for astir 2 hours from 2230 connected Thursday (1130 GMT), during which astir 10 North Korean warplanes flew arsenic adjacent arsenic 12 km (7 miles) northbound of the oversea borderline and 25 km (15 miles) northbound of the Military Demarcation Line.

It said the South Korean aerial unit "conducted an exigency sortie with its superior aerial force, including the F-35A" and a proportional effect manoeuvre.

South Korea's subject volition clasp its yearly Hoguk defence drills starting adjacent week, including tract grooming simulated to antagonistic the North's atomic and rocket threats, it added.

In its latest sanctions, Seoul's concern and overseas ministries singled retired 4 officials astatine the North's subject deliberation tank, and 11 astatine a trading company.

The 16 entities blacklisted see rocket manufacture and naval transport agencies, arsenic good arsenic trading, operation and physics firms.

They aided the North's weapons programmes and helped evade planetary sanctions by conducting probe oregon supplying concern and materials done overseas workers, smuggling and vessel operations, the ministries said.

The General Staff of the North's Korean People's Army (KPA) accused the South of taking "provocative action" with the artillery fire, which lasted astir 10 hours.

"The KPA sends a stern informing to the South Korean subject inciting subject hostility successful the frontline country with reckless action," its spokesperson said, according to KCNA.

The flaring hostility revived fears successful South Korea of a imaginable provocation by the North.

Although determination were nary signs of panic among South Koreans, a Gallup canvass released connected Friday showed much than 70% of respondents said North Korea's rocket tests threatened peace, the highest since the North's sixth atomic trial successful 2017.

North Korea has called its astir caller bid of rocket tests, including an intermediate-range ballistic rocket that flew implicit Japan past week, a amusement of unit against South Korean and U.S. subject drills involving an craft carrier.

Washington imposed new sanctions past week targeting a substance procurement web supporting Pyongyang's weapons programmes.

Reporting by Josh Smith and Hyonhee successful Seoul and David Brunnstrom successful Washington; further reporting by Kantaro Komiya successful Tokyo; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Grant McCool, Lincoln Feast and Gerry Doyle

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