North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday, according to South Korea’s military. This incident occurred shortly after the commencement of the annual joint military exercises between South Korean and U.S. troops. North Korea perceives these drills as a simulation of an invasion.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that the missiles were fired from North Korea’s Hwanghae province, marking the fifth missile launch event by North Korea this year. However, specific details such as the range of the missiles were not disclosed.
The joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States began on Monday and are expected to span over 11 days. The initiation of the Freedom Shield command post exercise occurred following a pause in live-fire training by the two countries. This pause was prompted by an incident where two South Korean fighter jets mistakenly bombed a civilian area during a practice drill last week, leading to an investigation by Seoul.
The drills’ start drew the condemnation of nuclear-armed North Korea, which issued a government statement calling the exercises a “dangerous provocative act” that increases the risks of military conflict.
About 30 people were injured, two of them seriously, when two South Korean KF-16 fighter jets mistakenly fired eight MK-82 bombs on a civilian area in Pocheon, a town near the North Korean border, on Thursday. The bombing occurred while South Korean and U.S. forces were engaging in a live-fire drill ahead of the larger Freedom Shield exercise.
In a background briefing to domestic reporters on Monday, the South Korean air force repeated its initial assessment last week that one of the KF-16 pilots had entered the wrong coordinates for a bombing site.
The unidentified pilot didn’t recognize the error during a pre-takeoff check and, rushing to meet scheduled timing, failed to visually verify the target before proceeding with the bombing. The second pilot had the correct coordinates but focused only on maintaining formation with the other aircraft and dropped the bombs following the first pilot’s instructions, failing to recognize they deviated from the right target, according to the content of the briefing provided to The Associated Press.
Gen. Lee Youngsu, chief of staff of the South Korean air force, bowed and apologized Monday over the injuries and property damage caused by the incident, which he said “should have never happened and must never happen again.”
Both the South Korean and U.S. militaries have halted all live-fire exercises in South Korea following the mishap. South Korean military officials say live-fire training will resume after they complete the ongoing investigation on the bombing and formulate preventative steps.
The Freedom Shield exercise marks the first large-scale joint exercise since U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term. It comes amid growing tensions with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions and its alignment with Russia in President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
Trump, who met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times during his first term, has expressed his willingness to reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy, which collapsed due to disagreements over exchanging U.S.-led sanctions against the North and the North’s denuclearization steps. But Pyongyang has yet to respond to his overture and has continued its fiery rhetoric against Washington and Seoul over their joint military exercises, which Kim portrays as rehearsals for invasion.
In a statement issued through state media Monday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry called the Freedom Shield exercise an “aggressive and confrontational war rehearsal” that risks triggering “physical conflict” on the Korean Peninsula.
The ministry reiterated Kim’s state goals for a “radical growth” of his nuclear force to counter what he claims as growing threats posed by the U.S. and its Asian allies.
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