Seoul imposed its first unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang in nearly five years
\nSEOUL
\nNorth Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast on Friday, South Korea\u2019s military said, the latest in a series of launches by the nuclear-armed country amid heightened tensions.
\nSouth Korea also scrambled fighter jets when a group of about 10 North Korean military aircraft flew close to their heavily fortified border, and North Korea fired some 170 rounds of artillery into \u201csea buffer zones\u201d off its east and west coasts, the South\u2019s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
\nSouth Korea\u2019s National Security Council (NSC) condemned the North for escalating tensions, calling its moves a violation of a 2018 bilateral military pact that bans \u201chostile acts\u201d in the border area.
\nSeoul imposed its first unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang in nearly five years, blacklisting 15 North Korean individuals and 16 institutions involved in missile development.
\nThe JCS issued a warning to North Korea, urging it to stop provocations and escalating tension.
\nSouth Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol told reporters that Pyongyang has been \u201cindiscriminately carrying out provocations,\u201d vowing to devise \u201cwatertight countermeasures.\u201d
\nYoon\u2019s spokesman said that his government respects inter-Korean agreements, and that scrapping the 2018 military pact hinges on Pyongyang\u2019s behaviour.
\nNorth Korea\u2019s military issued a statement via state media KCNA on early Friday that it took \u201cstrong military countermeasures,\u201d over South Korea\u2019s artillery fire on Thursday.
\nSouth Korea\u2019s NSC said the firing was a \u201cregular, legitimate\u201d exercise.
\nThe incidents came after KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of two long-range strategic cruise missiles on Wednesday to confirm the reliability of nuclear-capable weapons deployed to military units.
\nThe unprecedented frequency of North Korea\u2019s missile launches has raised concerns it may be preparing to resume testing of nuclear bombs for the first time since 2017. Some analysts do not expect any tests before neighbouring China concludes a key ruling Communist Party congress, which begins on October 16.
\nThe US Indo-Pacific Command said it was aware of the latest missile launch and \u201cit does not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to our allies.\u201d
\nJapan\u2019s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the North\u2019s repeated missiles tests were \u201cabsolutely unacceptable,\u201d and his country would \u201cdrastically strengthen\u201d its defence.
\nFlaring tension
\nSouth Korea\u2019s JCS said the missile launched at 1:49am on Friday from the Sunan area near North Korea\u2019s capital, Pyongyang, and flew about 700km to an altitude of 50km at a speed of Mach 6.
\nJapan\u2019s coast guard also reported the launch, which was at least the 41st ballistic missile test by the North this year.
\nThe JCS said the aircraft incident occurred for about two hours from 11:30pm on Thursday, during which about 10 North Korean warplanes flew as close as 12km north of the sea border and 25 km north of the Military Demarcation Line.
\nIt said the South Korean air force \u201cconducted an emergency sortie with its superior air force, including the F-35A\u201d and a proportional response manoeuvre.
\nSouth Korea\u2019s military will hold its annual Hoguk defence drills starting next week, including field training simulated to counter the North\u2019s nuclear and missile threats, it added.
\nIn its latest sanctions, Seoul\u2019s finance and foreign ministries singled out four officials at the North\u2019s military think tank, and 11 at a trading company.
\nThe 16 entities blacklisted include rocket industry and naval transport agencies, as well as trading, construction and electronic firms.
\nThey aided the North\u2019s weapons programmes and helped evade international sanctions by conducting research or supplying finance and materials through overseas workers, smuggling and ship operations, the ministries said.
\nThe General Staff of the North\u2019s Korean People\u2019s Army (KPA) accused the South of taking \u201cprovocative action\u201d with the artillery fire, which lasted about 10 hours.
\n\u201cThe KPA sends a stern warning to the South Korean military inciting military tension in the frontline area with reckless action,\u201d its spokesman said, according to KCNA.
\nThe flaring tension revived fears in South Korea of a potential provocation by the North.
\nAlthough there were no signs of panic among South Koreans, a Gallup poll released on Friday showed more than 70% of respondents said North Korea\u2019s missile tests threatened peace, the highest since the North\u2019s sixth nuclear test in 2017.
\nNorth Korea has called its most recent series of missile tests, including an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan last week, a show of force against South Korean and U.S. military drills involving an aircraft carrier.
\nWashington imposed new sanctions last week targeting a fuel procurement network supporting Pyongyang\u2019s weapons programmes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seoul imposed its first unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang in nearly five years SEOUL North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast on Friday, South Korea\u2019s military said, the latest in a series of launches by the nuclear-armed country amid heightened tensions. South Korea also scrambled fighter jets when a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289309,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-289291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n