12 North Korean warplanes close to South Korean border
South Korea’s military announced 12 North Korean warplanes were conducting exercises near the country’s border, prompting Seoul to send 30 fighter jets to respond.
Joint Chiefs of Staff South Korea today said 8 fighters and 4 bombers Korean “the formation flew north of the air boundary between the two koreas and is believed to have conducted air-to-ground exercises”.
South Korea has deployed 30 fighter jets in response to the North’s move. Pyongyang has not commented on the report.
The U.S. and South Korea have intensified in recent weeks. military exercises jointly, involving the US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, with anti-ship, anti-submarine and other activities. Pyongyang denounced it as an “escalation of military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”
Pyongyang’s series of missile tests has prompted concerns from regional governments, Washington and observers that North Korea is building momentum for a nuclear test.
South Korea’s intelligence community said North Korea’s seventh nuclear test could take place between Oct. 16 and Nov. 7, close to the U.S. midterm elections. Preparations at North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site have been completed.
North Korea has tested nuclear weapons six times since 2006, most recently in September 2017.
North Korea has recently carried out ballistic missile launches. It this morning fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the eastern seaboard, North Korea’s 6th missile test in the past 12 days.
A missile in the test flew 50 km high, reached a range of 800 km and was more likely to “use abnormal trajectory” in the journey.
The U.S. and many of its allies condemned North Korea’s missile launches as “provocative” and “destabilizing.” Pyongyang claims the recent missile launches are a “response” to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises.
North Korea launches missile with ‘unusual trajectory’, Japan says ‘cannot be tolerated’
Alles Europa News Inside reports.
- Japan evacuates people after North Korea launches missiles over Japan
- U.S. and South Korean warplanes hold bombing drills after North Korea launches missiles
- U.S. consults With Japan and South Korea in Response to North Korea’s Missile Launch
Many of North Korea’s most recent short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) are designed to fly in lower orbits and be maneuverable, making detection and interception efforts more complicated.
“North Korea has relentlessly escalated its provocative actions unilaterally, especially since the beginning of this year,” Hamada said.
Japanese Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu said Tokyo had expressed its “vehement opposition” to North Korea over the Oct. 6 missile launch through diplomatic missions in Beijing, China.
On Oct. 6, Hamada said the first missile is capable of flying to an altitude of about 100 kilometers and a range of 350 kilometers, while the second missile has an estimated altitude of 50 kilometers and a range of 800 kilometers.
Hamada said North Korea’s 2nd missile appeared to have flown in an “unusual trajectory.”
Japan had previously coordinated with the U.S.-South Korean coalition to gather more information about North Korea’s launch of a short-range ballistic missile on September 25 that had an “unusual trajectory.”
On October 6, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio declared that North Korea’s six missile launches in a short period of time, dating back to the end of September alone, were “intolerable.”
On Oct. 6, Pyongyang launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea in the direction of Japan, after the U.S. aircraft carrier returned to the area and the U.S. asked the U.N. Security Council to meet on north Korea’s recent missile launches.
It was North Korea’s sixth missile launch in 12 days and the first since North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile (IRBM) at Japan on Oct. 4. South Korea and the U.S. held a joint military exercise shortly thereafter in response.
According to Reuters, both south Korea’s joint chiefs of staff and the Japanese government have responded to the Oct. 6 launch.
“This is the 6th time in a short time, counting only the times since the end of September. This absolutely cannot be tolerated,” the Japanese prime minister said.
Observers say the latest launch is North Korea’s response to military moves between the U.S. and its allies.
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who will speak to Kishida by phone on Oct. 6, said his country would ensure security through alliances with the United States and cooperation with Japan.
The U.S. also condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launch, calling it a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a threat to its neighbors in the region, as well as the international community.
But a State Department spokesman said the U.S. remained committed to diplomacy and called on North Korea to engage in dialogue.
- Evacuation facilities nationwide, but only 1.4 percent have shelters.
On Oct. 6, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio declared that North Korea’s six missile launches in a short period of time, dating back to late September alone, were “intolerable.”
Anxiety has followed the Japanese people since at least 2017, when North Korea began testing missiles flying over Japanese territory.
In fact, in tandem with record budget increases for missile defense, some members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have also sought to strengthen their ability to strike the enemy head-on, rather than passive defense.
Professor Kyoko Hatakeyama, a security policy expert at Niigata Prefectural University, said Japan is a pacifist country, but cannot continue to stand idly by and do nothing.
“And if we say that missile defense is not enough, we will have to take into account the capability to attack enemy facilities,” he said.
Others, such as James Brady, vice president of political risk advisory at teneo consulting firm, write that Japanese public concerns could inadvertently be helpful to the ruling party in strengthening its defense, especially among hawks.
On October 6, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward the coast in the direction of Japan.
As usual, the Japanese government quickly used various information tools to warn people.
However, according to Bloomberg, the problem is that by the time the Japanese people received the warning, the North Korean missile had reached an area in the Pacific Ocean, which means that people could only react when the missile had traveled more than 3,000 kilometers.
The news agency cited as an example the first announcement of the launch to appear at 7:27 a.m., while the launch had already been carried out about 5 minutes earlier. About 2 minutes after the announcement, a television station in Japan began urging people to immediately seek shelter, saying: “A missile has been launched, a missile has been launched.”
In other words, how can the Japanese people believe that they are safe when they only have a few seconds to react to this threat, once North Korea actually attacks?
Not to mention, in rural areas, most residential houses are made of wood and there are no bunkers.
Government data shows that Japan has more than 94,000 evacuation facilities nationwide, but only 1.4 percent have shelters.
