North Korea launched four short-range missiles

North Korea on Saturday fired four short-range missiles into the Yellow Sea, following a series of launches this week in response to joint air maneuvers by South Korea and the United States, drawing condemnation from the international community.

• Read more: South Korea: US B-1B bomber joins joint air exercise

• Read more: North Korea launched four short-range missiles, Seoul says

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Pyongyang has called the “Vigilant Storm” exercise an “aggressive and provocative military maneuver targeting the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, threatening Seoul and Washington with “the most brutal price in history”.

South Korea’s military on Saturday “detected four missiles fired from Donglim, North Pyongyang Province toward the West Sea (the Korean name for the Yellow Sea), between 11:32 am (02:32 GMT) and 11:39 am.”

Their “flight range was detected at an altitude of about 130 km, an altitude of about 20 km, and a speed of Mach 5” (five times the speed of sound, editor’s note), the press release added.

Earlier, the South Korean military announced on Saturday afternoon that the US supersonic heavy bomber B-1B will participate in the “Awareness Storm” exercises.

“The South Korean and US air forces conducted joint exercises on the Korean Peninsula on November 5 (Saturday) with two US Air Force B-1Bs, four South Korean F-35As and four US F-16s,” a press release said. South Korean civil servants at the end of maneuvers on Saturday afternoon.

‘significant threat’

The B-1B is a supersonic bomber that the US Air Force describes as “the backbone of America’s long-range bomber force.”

Its deployment is considered a “significant threat” by Pyongyang, Ahn Chan-il, an expert on North Korean issues, told AFP.

“Caution Storm”, launched on October 31, is the largest series of maneuvers jointly organized by South Korea and the United States.

Originally scheduled for Friday, the drills have been extended to Saturday after North Korea stepped up its missile strikes in recent days, including the failed launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the direction of the Sea of ​​Japan.

North Korea has always viewed US-South Korean military maneuvers as dress rehearsals for an invasion of its territory or the overthrow of its leaders.

And aerial maneuvers particularly worried him, as his air force was one of his army’s weakest points, lacking both the latest technological aircraft and experienced pilots.

Although it was originally designed to carry nuclear weapons, the B-1B has been used by the US exclusively for conventional combat missions since the mid-1990s, citing its manufacturer Boeing as its base. It was particularly used in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

It can carry 34 tons of missiles or laser-guided munitions (BGL), according to the US Air Force. Its air supply allows it to attack anywhere in the world.

On Friday evening, the South Korean military announced it had deployed about 80 F-35A stealth fighters after detecting 180 fighter jets flying over North Korean airspace, a new chapter in recent escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. .

Disagreement at the UN

The United States on Friday condemned the “absurd” North Korean missile launch by the UN Security Council, with the complicity of Pyongyang’s allies Russia and China.

After attacking Russia and China, Washington, Paris, London and other non-permanent member states of the Security Council argued in a joint statement for “unity” in the face of the “threat North Korea poses to international peace”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned about the escalation of tensions and conflict talks on the Korean Peninsula,” his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said.

The European Union, through its diplomatic chief Joseph Borrell, condemned this “dangerous escalation” and called for a “resolute and united response” globally, including the use of all EU sanctions.

Frank Ohm, a former Pentagon adviser, says the dossier causes “a lot of frustration,” saying the US administration “really doesn’t want to engage against North Korea.”

Joe Biden, Mr. According to Ohm, a gesture could be made to ease tensions, such as easing sanctions or halting new military deployments, but it would be perceived as “a reward” in the US. Misbehavior by Pyongyang.

Pyongyang launched about 30 missiles on Wednesday and Thursday, one of which ended its course near the South’s territorial waters for the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol spoke of a “real territorial invasion”. .

North Korea already revised its nuclear doctrine in September to allow for preventive strikes in the event of an existential threat against Kim Jong Un’s regime.

The new doctrine states that if North Korea’s nuclear “command and control system” is “threatened by an attack by hostile forces, a nuclear strike would automatically be launched immediately.”