JCS: "North Korea Fires 3 Short-Range Ballistic Missiles into East Sea"... First Provocation under Yoon Administration (Summary)

North Korea fired another projectile into the East Sea on the 30th. This marks the seventh military demonstration since the beginning of the new year, occurring just three days after launching two ground-to-ground tactical guided missiles on the 27th. The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced in a text message sent to the press corps at 7:57 a.m. that North Korea had fired an unidentified projectile into the East Sea. The photo shows citizens watching the related news at Seoul Station on the same day. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on the 11th. This is the first provocation since President Yoon Suk-yeol took office on the 11th.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that at around 6:29 p.m. that day, they detected three short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea from the Sunan area in Pyongyang toward the East Sea. The more detailed specifications of the three ballistic missiles are currently being analyzed by South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities.

This ballistic missile launch occurred five days after North Korea's submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) launch on the 7th. North Korea has carried out its 16th military demonstration this year and its first provocation since the new government took office.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff explained, "Our military is maintaining full readiness while strengthening surveillance and vigilance, closely cooperating with the U.S. military."

Earlier that day, North Korea acknowledged for the first time the occurrence of COVID-19 cases and announced a transition to the maximum emergency quarantine system. Despite imposing nationwide lockdown measures for COVID-19 prevention, North Korea carried out a military demonstration.

Internally, it is interpreted as focusing on national quarantine while externally intending to continue its 'policy to strengthen the Ministry of Defense' according to its plans.

As expectations arose that North Korea would refrain from provocations such as nuclear tests due to concentrating all national capabilities on national quarantine amid the COVID-19 spread, this launch drew a clear line.

The military authorities under Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop, who was inaugurated the day before, upgraded their description of North Korea's ballistic missile test launch from "threat" to "provocation." The term "projectile," previously used when first detecting North Korean ballistic missiles, has been discarded.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.