South Korea responded to the North’s latest test by launching three missiles of its own.
Image source, Getty ImagesNorth Korea has fired a missile towards the South, which crossed the two countries’ maritime border for the first time since the division of Korea.
The short-range ballistic missile landed in waters off South Korea’s east coast and near the island of Ulleungdo, triggering the island’s air-raid alarm.
Residents there were told to evacuate to underground shelters.
Pyongyang fired at least 10 missiles off its east coast on Wednesday morning, South Korean officials say.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staffs said the missiles were of “various types… [fired] towards the east and west”, adding that its president had ordered a “swift response” to Pyongyang’s latest launches.
Both South Korean and Japanese authorities recorded the missiles on Wednesday morning, including the one which had breached the Northern Limit Line.
That missile had fallen about 26km (16mi) south of the maritime demarcation border, 57km east of the South Korean city of Sokcho and 167km north-west of Ulleungdo island.
South Korean authorities immediately condemned the launches, which occurred just before 09:00 (00:00 GMT). President Yoon Suk-yeol has called a National Security Cabinet meeting.
The missiles come a day after Pyongyang warned the US and South Korea to stop conducting joint military drills around the peninsula this week.
On Tuesday, North Korea had threatened to follow-up with “powerful” measures.
