North Korea Flies Military Aircraft and Launches SRBM... "In Response to South Korea's Indiscriminate Shelling"

Japan Defense Ministry "Estimated Flight Distance 650 km, Peak Altitude 50 km"
Third Satellite Launch This Month... North Korea Claims "Countermeasures"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] North Korea has once again carried out a military provocation targeting late-night hours. Following the deployment of military aircraft south of the tactical control line, it launched a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) into the East Sea.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at around 1:49 a.m. on the 14th, the military detected one SRBM launched by North Korea from the Sunan area of Pyongyang toward the East Sea. Japan's Ministry of Defense presented detection and analysis data estimating the missile's flight distance to be about 650 km and its peak altitude to be 50 km.

Based on the detection parameters, it is evaluated to be similar to the so-called "North Korean version of Iskander," known as the KN-23. North Korea is known to have developed various SRBMs, including the KN-23, as tactical nuclear delivery systems.

Prior to the missile launch, North Korea flew military aircraft in a "demonstrative flight." The Joint Chiefs identified about 10 flight tracks of North Korean military aircraft between 10:30 p.m. on the previous day and 12:20 a.m. on the 14th, and urgently scrambled air forces including F-35A jets to respond.

This is the third time this month that North Korea has conducted an aerial military demonstration with military aircraft, following the 6th and 8th. Notably, this is the first time the aircraft have descended south of the tactical control line. The tactical control line is a virtual boundary set by South Korean military authorities 20 to 50 km north of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea, intended to respond to abnormal behavior by North Korean military aircraft.

According to the Joint Chiefs, North Korean military aircraft approached up to 5 km north of the no-fly zone set under the September 19 military agreement (25 km north of the MDL) in the western inland area south of the tactical control line, up to 7 km north of the no-fly zone (47 km north of the MDL) in the eastern inland area, and up to 12 km north of the NLL in the West Sea area, before heading back north.

North Korea claims this provocation is a "counter-military action in response to South Korean artillery fire." According to the Korean Central News Agency, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, in a statement by its spokesperson, condemned that "according to frontline information, on October 13, the South Korean military conducted artillery fire for as long as 10 hours in the forward area of the 5th Corps."

They added, "We take the provocative actions carried out by the South Korean military in the frontline area very seriously and have taken strong counter-military actions," and "Our military sends a stern warning to the reckless military activities of the South Korean military that provoke military tensions in the frontline area."

Meanwhile, North Korea has launched ballistic missiles 24 times and cruise missiles 3 times since the beginning of this year. Counting only missiles launched since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, this is the 13th launch.

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