North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles off its west coast into the sea on Monday, not long after warning of the risk of “physical conflict” over the US and South Korea kicking off their combined annual military drills.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile firings, North Korea's fifth missile launch event this year, were detected from the North's Hwanghae province but gave no further details such as how far they flew.
Earlier today, the South Korean and US militaries began their annual joint military exercises, which are scheduled to last for 11 days.
The Freedom Shield command post exercise began after the South Korean and US militaries paused live-fire training while Seoul is investigating how two of its fighter jets mistakenly bombed a civilian area during a warm-up drill last week.
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 US 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 recognise 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 recognise 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 apologised on 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 US 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 US 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 US-led sanctions against the North and the North's denuclearisation 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 US and its Asian allies.
Meanwhile, North Korea on Saturday unveiled a nuclear-powered submarine for the first time. Strategic experts said the weapons system could pose a major security threat to South Korea and the US.
Pictures released by state media showed leader Kim Jong Un visiting an under-construction “nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine”, and a statement from Kim saying the country’s sea defence capability will be fully displayed in any necessary waters without limitation (with inputs from AP/PTI).