North Korean missile lands close to South Korean waters for 'first time', Seoul military says

SEOUL, South Korea (Updated, 11:27 a.m.) — North Korea fired at least 10 missiles Wednesday, including one that landed close to South Korea's territorial waters and prompted a rare warning for people on an island to shelter in bunkers.

"The North Korean missile launch is very unusual and unacceptable as it fell close to South Korean territorial waters south of the Northern Limit Line for the first time" since the peninsula was divided, Kang Shin-chul, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters.

An air raid warning was issued for the island of Ulleungdo, JCS said, which was flashed on national television and told residents to "evacuate to the nearest underground shelter".

"We declare that our military will respond decisively to this," he added.

In a statement, the JCS described the missile launch near South Korean territorial waters as very rare and intolerable".

"Our military vowed to respond firmly to this (provocation)," it added.

The JCS had initially said it detected the launch of three short range ballistic missiles, but later announced North Korea had fired "at least 10 missiles of various types today towards the east and west".

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called a meeting of the National Security Council over the launch, ordering "swift and stern measures so that North Korea's provocations pay a clear price."

Japan also confirmed North Korean missile launches, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida telling reporters he planned to call a "national security meeting as soon as possible."

Vigilant Storm

Pyongyang's latest launch comes as Seoul and Washington stage their largest-ever joint air drills, dubbed "Vigilant Storm", which involve hundreds of warplanes from both sides.

Pak Jong Chon, a high-ranking official in North Korea, said the drills were aggressive and provocative, according to a report in state media Wednesday.

Pak said the name of the exercises harks back to Operation Desert Storm, the US-led military assault on Iraq in 1990-1991 after it invaded Kuwait.

"If the US and South Korea attempt to use armed forces against the (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) without any fear, the special means of the DPRK's armed forces will carry out their strategic mission without delay," he said. 

"The US and South Korea will have to face a terrible case and pay the most horrible price in history."

Close to South Korea

One of the missiles on Wednesday landed in waters just 57 kilometers (35 miles) east of the South Korean mainland, the military said.

"In protest of the joint US-South Korea drill, Pyongyang seems to have staged the most aggressive and threatening armed demonstration against the South since 2010," Cheong Seong-chang, a researcher at the Sejong Institute told AFP.

In March 2010, a North Korean submarine torpedoed the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan, killing 46 sailors including 16 who were on their mandatory military service.

In November the same year, the North shelled a South Korean border island, killing two marines -- both of them young conscripts.

"It is now a dangerous and unstable situation that could lead to armed conflicts," he added.

The test follows a recent blitz of launches, including what the North said were tactical nuke drills, that Washington and Seoul have repeatedly warned could culminate in another nuclear test -- which would be Pyongyang's seventh.

The Vigilant Storm air drills were preceded by 12 days of amphibious naval exercises.

"As far as I can remember, North Korea has never made such a provocation when South Korea and the US were holding their joint drills," Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha University, told AFP. 

"Pyongyang seems to have completed its most powerful deterrent. This is a serious threat. The North also seems confident in their nuclear capabilities."