Quite on expected lines, missiles flew out of bases, as North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on Monday, hours after condemning the South Korean and U.S. militaries for launching drills. Pyongyang called the exercise a “dangerous provocative act” that risked accidentally sparking a confrontation.
South Korea’s military said the missiles were fired from North Korea’s western region toward the Yellow Sea. The launch was the first reported ballistic missile test since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.
The allies’ annual Freedom Shield drills are scheduled to run until March 20, although live-fire exercises remain suspended after South Korean jets mistakenly dropped bombs on a civilian town near the border last week, injuring 29.
North Korea has typically called for U.S.-South Korea joint exercises to be called off, branding them a prelude to an invasion.
The South Korean military has said the joint drills aim to strengthen the readiness of the alliance for threats such as North Korea.
“This is a dangerous provocative act of leading the acute situation on the Korean peninsula, which may spark off a physical conflict between the two sides by means of an accidental single shot, to the extreme point,” North Korea’s foreign ministry said, according to state media outlet KCNA.
The drills will harm U.S. security, the ministry added.
Lee Young-su, chief of South Korea’s Air Force, bowed in apology on Monday over the “unprecedented” accident last week in which two jets mistakenly bombed the village.
“It was an accident that should never have happened and it should never happen again,” Lee told reporters.
A pilot in one jet was pressed for time and didn’t double-check the target coordinates, while another pilot in the other jet followed and dropped bombs without noticing the incorrect coordinates, a South Korean military official said, citing the interim results of the military’s investigation.
The defence ministry was not immediately available for comment.
The area hit by the accidental bombing in Pocheon, which is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Seoul, was outside a training area near the border with North Korea.
Residents in the area have long complained about the disturbance and risks coming from the exercises. The incident has only reinforced fears of more such acidents.
Team BharatShakti
(With Inputs from Reuters)
