SEOUL: North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles on Saturday, Seoul’s military said, adding a final salvo to Pyongyang’s record-breaking blitz of launches this year.

Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen sharply in 2022 as the North has conducted sanctions-busting weapons tests nearly every month, including firing its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile ever.

Saturday’s launch comes a day after South Korea successfully tested a solid-fuel space launch vehicle, and follows the incursion of five North Korean drones into the South’s airspace earlier in the week.

South Korea’s military said it had detected “three short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea into the East Sea from the area of Chunghwa County, North Hwanghae Province, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan. The missiles flew about 350 kilometres before splashing down, it added.

“Our military maintains a full readiness posture while closely cooperating with the US and strengthening surveillance and vigilance,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Monday’s North Korean drone incursion was the first such incident in five years and prompted an apology from Seoul’s defence minister after the military failed to shoot down a single drone despite scrambling jets for a five-hour operation. South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol called the incident “intolerable” and added that the South should ensure that Pyongyang realised that “provocations are always met with harsh consequences”.

Published in Dawn, january 1st, 2023