Aircraft fly close to the border as North Korea launches another missile: The South’s military said that on Friday, North Korea flew a warplane near the border with South Korea and fired a ballistic missile at its eastern seas. This added to the tensions that were already high because of the North’s recent weapons tests.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea said the launch took place early on Friday. But did not provide any other information, such as how far the missile traveled.
The prime minister’s office and the Japanese defense ministry both tweeted that North Korea may have fired a missile.
It is the most recent in a string of missile launches by North Korea. Thursday, North Korea said that its leader, Kim Jong Un, was in charge of the long-range cruise missile test launches, which they said showed off the military’s growing ability to use nuclear weapons.
North Korea claimed this week that its missile launches were fake nuclear assaults on South Korean and American targets. North Korea cautioned Seoul and Washington against “dangerous” naval operations with a U.S. aircraft carrier after the bomb tests.
This year, North Korea’s record-breaking weapons tests are seen as Kim Jong Un’s drive to construct a more lethal arsenal to compel his rivals to acknowledge his nation as nuclear power and lift economic sanctions.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea also said that fighter aircraft had launched after North Korea flew warplanes close to their shared border late on Thursday and early Friday.
The distance between the North Korean aircraft and the inter-Korean border was as little as 12 kilometers (7 miles).
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff say that the F-35s and other warplanes send into the air in response. Conflicts were not reportedly present.