Tensions in East Asia reach dangerous new level
來源：開云體育app官方網站發布日期：2023-01-30 05:40:23 瀏覽：9443
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| This March 26 file photo carried by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency shows a KN-23 missile being launched from a transporter erector launcher on March 25. The North on Thursday fired two short-range ballistic missiles, one of which is assumed to be the KN-25. |
North Korea resorts to another show of force with air drills hours after firing ballistic missiles
By Nam Hyun-woo
A series of phone conversations between the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan following North Korea's latest missile launches demonstrates just how much tensions have escalated in East Asia.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) on Thursday, marking the sixth launch in the last 12 days. According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the SRBMs were launched from the Samsok area near Pyongyang between 6:01 a.m. and 6:23 a.m.
The first missile flew approximately 350 kilometers after reaching a maximum altitude of 80 kilometers, and the second one traveled approximately 800 kilometers after reaching a maximum altitude of 60 kilometers. The missiles' top speeds reached Mach 5 and 6, respectively.
Given the trajectory, experts believe the first missile was the KN-25 and the second one was the KN-23, better known as the North Korean version of the Russian Iskander-M missile.
Tensions had escalated further hours later as 12 North Korean military aircraft _ four bombers and eight fighter jets _ flew in formation and presumably conducted a firing exercise Thursday, in an apparent protest against recent military drills between South Korea and the U.S., according to South Korean military officials.
The officials said the formation flight took place south of "a special monitoring line" between the North Korean cities of Pyongyang and Wonsan at around 2 p.m., and they were assumed to have conducted air-to-surface firing drills. More than 30 South Korean military aircraft were deployed to the area in response.
A special monitoring line is an aerial boundary the South Korean military has designated to enable prompt responses to the North's moves. Reportedly, it was the first time that North Korea carried out such a formation flight and strike drill in protest against the South.
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