JCS Denies N. Korea General Staff's Claim of 'Retaliatory Strike off Ulsan Coast' as False

"Claim of 'Launching 500 Fighter Jets' Also Dismissed as Unlikely"

North Korean Cruise Missile / Korean Central News Agency [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] The military authorities have firmly denied North Korea's claim that it "fired cruise missiles into the waters off Ulsan."

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the 7th, the General Staff of the North Korean People's Army recently released a four-day military operation log against South Korea, claiming that on the 2nd, it fired two cruise missiles into international waters off Ulsan. However, a Joint Chiefs of Staff official told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "Based on detection and analysis by South Korea-U.S. surveillance and reconnaissance assets, North Korea's claim is not true."

The General Staff explained through the Korean Central News Agency and Rodong Sinmun that on the first day of the operation (the 2nd), "missile units in the Pyonganbuk-do region simulated strikes on enemy air force bases and fired four tactical ballistic missiles targeting an uninhabited island in front of the West Sea Lock (omitted)." They also stated, "In the morning and afternoon, air force anti-aircraft missile units along the east and west coasts fired 23 surface-to-air missiles (omitted)."

At that time, North Korea fired ballistic missiles south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea for the first time since the division, and the military dispatched F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets to fire three air-to-ground missiles into international waters north of the NLL.

In response, North Korea claimed, "The enemy alleged that our missiles landed near South Korea's 'territorial waters' and recklessly conducted retaliatory fire in our international waters," adding, "From the Hamgyongbuk-do region, we launched two strategic cruise missiles with a range of 590.5 km to retaliate by striking international waters about 80 km off the coast of Ulsan City in South Korea."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff also drew a line regarding North Korea's claim that it "conducted a large-scale total combat deployment operation mobilizing 500 various fighter jets to demonstrate its will to respond to the enemy's joint air exercises," stating, "Not all of North Korea's reported content is true."

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