North Korea launches 23 missiles as Kim Jong Un climbs the 'escalation ladder'

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired much than 20 ballistic missiles connected Wednesday, a record, sending residents of a South Korean island to underground shelters arsenic the rivals engaged successful a series of launches around their tense oversea border. 

North Korean person Kim Jong Un's subject began the speech by test-firing aggregate ballistic missiles, 1 of which landed southbound of the buffer portion successful the oversea borderline betwixt the 2 countries for the archetypal clip since the Korean Peninsula was divided successful 1948. South Korea responded by firing 3 air-to-surface missiles toward the bluish broadside of the border, which North Korea followed with 100 rounds of artillery and further rocket launches that lasted into the evening.

The speech marked the latest important escalation betwixt the 2 neighbors aft months of provocations from Pyongyang. Analysts said they were apt a motion of Kim Jong Un's tendency to ratchet up tensions arsenic helium seeks to make his regime's atomic arsenal, pressure the United States to easiness crippling sanctions and situation the South's caller blimpish leader.

As his repeated weapons tests marque little of a splash internationally, Kim is "salami slicing the escalation ladder," searching for caller ways to drawback the world's attention, said Christopher Green, a elder advisor connected the Korean Peninsula for the International Crisis Group. North Korea's provocations connected Wednesday, portion highly symbolic, are "more for amusement than for subject escalation," helium told NBC News. 

Hours earlier firing its archetypal missiles, North Korea threatened the United States and South Korea implicit associated subject exercises continuing this week that the North considers a rehearsal for invasion. A connection from an authoritative adjacent to North Korean person Kim Jong Un suggested that if North Korea were attacked, helium could usage atomic weapons to marque the 2 countries "pay the astir horrible terms successful history."

The U.S. and South Korea accidental the drills, which returned this twelvemonth aft being scaled down oregon halted during the Trump administration, are antiaircraft successful quality and that they person nary volition of attacking the North.

At an exigency gathering with apical information officials, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered that strict measures beryllium taken successful effect to North Korea's rocket launches connected Wednesday, which helium called "effectively a usurpation of our territory."

In a telephone telephone betwixt South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, some officials condemned the North's incursion crossed the oversea border, calling it "an unprecedented and sedate subject provocation," according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry. They said they would thoroughly hole for immoderate further North Korean provocations and proceed to fortify cooperation.

The launches travel arsenic South Korea is observing a week of nationalist mourning for victims of the Halloween assemblage crush in Seoul past weekend. Yoon's bureau said the timing of the North Korean launches "clearly showed the quality of the North Korean government."

North Korea's aggression started astatine 6:51 a.m. Wednesday section clip (5:51 p.m. Tuesday ET), the South Korean subject said, with 4 short-range ballistic missiles launched into the Yellow Sea from North Pyongan Province.

At 8:51 a.m., North Korea launched 3 short-range ballistic missiles from the eastbound coastal municipality of Wonsan. One of those missiles landed successful planetary waters 16 miles southbound of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto oversea borderline betwixt North and South Korea.

Lt. Gen. Shin Chul Kang, main manager of operations for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, called it "a precise irregular and unacceptable action."

The missile's landing tract was 35 miles eastbound of the metropolis of Sokcho and 104 miles northwest of Ulleung island, prompting the South Korean subject to rise its alert posture to Level 2 and contented an aerial raid alert connected the land earlier lifting it successful the afternoon. Photos published successful South Korean media showed residents of the land being evacuated to underground shelters.

In response, South Korean F-15K and KF-16 combatant jets fired 3 precision-guided air-to-surface missiles astatine a people connected the northbound broadside of the buffer portion of the oversea borderline the aforesaid region distant arsenic the North Korean missile.

"Our military's effect reaffirms our resoluteness to sternly respond to immoderate North Korean provocations and shows that we are susceptible of accurately striking our enemy," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Over the people of the day, North Korea fired astatine slightest 23 ballistic missiles toward the sea. It besides fired 100 rounds of artillery into a maritime buffer portion betwixt the 2 countries, the South Korean subject said, successful usurpation of a 2018 agreement.

No missiles landed connected the existent territories of the 2 Koreas, and the countries did not prosecute successful immoderate unrecorded fire.

"Kim Jong Un is decidedly investigating to spot what the South Koreans volition do," said Aidan Foster-Carter, an honorary elder probe chap successful sociology and modern Korea astatine Leeds University successful England. "And of people it's precise difficult, arsenic erstwhile South Korean leaders person found, to find immoderate effectual effect which doesn't escalate the concern further."

North Korea has already conducted much than 50 rocket launches this year, acold much than ever before. U.S. and South Korean officials accidental North Korea whitethorn besides beryllium preparing for its seventh atomic test, which would beryllium its archetypal since September 2017.

Green said North Korea's rocket launches connected Wednesday were not connected the aforesaid standard arsenic the March 2010 sinking of the South Korean navy vessel Cheonan, which killed 46 seamen and for which South Korea blamed the North, oregon the North's November 2010 shelling of the South Korean land of Yeonpyeong, which South Korea says killed 2 civilians.

He pointed retired that North Korea is antagonized by Yoon, a blimpish person who has vowed a tougher attack to Pyongyang, arsenic good arsenic the U.S.-South Korea subject drills, which Russia and China person besides criticized.

But Russia and China are besides wary of North Korea and its unpredictability, Foster-Carter said.

"They volition beryllium telling Kim Jong Un to chill it, and for that crushed I americium moderately reassured that this volition not escalate retired of hand."

Stella Kim reported from Seoul, and Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong.