North Korea fired “multiple unidentified ballistic missiles” on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, shortly after reporting a similar launch from the North’s capital area the previous day.
The launches followed Seoul’s expression of regret on Monday over civilian drone incursions into the North in January, with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung calling it “irresponsible” and noting that government officials had been involved in the operation.
The missile launches are seen as North Korea’s latest rebuff of South Korea’s peace overtures, according to analysts.
Seoul’s military initially said on Wednesday morning it had detected “an unidentified projectile launched from the Pyongyang area on Tuesday.”
Around an hour later the military said it also detected “multiple unidentified ballistic missiles fired from the Wonsan area of North Korea towards the East Sea” on Wednesday morning, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.
The missiles flew around 240 kilometres (149 miles), they added.
South Korean President Lee has sought to repair ties with North Korea since taking office last year, criticising his predecessor for allegedly sending drones to scatter propaganda over Pyongyang.
Following Lee’s expression of regret over the drones on Monday, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Lee’s regret was “wise behaviour”.
“Our government appreciated it as very fortunate and wise behaviour for its own sake,” Kim Yo Jong said on Monday.
But on Tuesday, a senior North Korean foreign ministry official described the South as “the enemy state most hostile to the DPRK”, using the initials of the North’s official name, reiterating a label used by leader Kim previously.
Referring to South Korean media reports that cast a positive light on Kim Yo Jong’s comments about Lee, the official said such a stance was “nonsense”.
“Regarding the rapid response from our government as an ‘exceptional friendly response’… this will also be recorded as world-startling fools’ ‘hope-filled dream reading'”, Jang Kum-chol, first vice-minister of Pyongyang’s foreign ministry, said in an English statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
The launches are Pyongyang’s message to Seoul that its anti?South stance remains firm despite Seoul’s repeated overtures, said Lim Eul?chul, an expert on North Korea at Kyungnam University.
“The consecutive firings and recent statements underscore the North’s determination to ignore attempts by the South at improving inter?Korean ties,” he said.
*
Email *
Website
