North Korea fired four ballistic missiles on Saturday, the South Korean military said, the latest in Pyongyang\u2019s testing blitz this week as Washington and Seoul concluded their biggest-ever air force drills.
\nThe flurry of North Korean launches included an intercontinental ballistic missile and one that landed near the South\u2019s territorial waters. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said it was \u201ceffectively a territorial invasion\u201d.
\nThe launches came as hundreds of US and South Korean warplanes \u2014 including B-1B heavy bombers \u2014 participated in the Vigilant Storm exercise, which Pyongyang described as \u201caggressive and provocative\u201d.
\n\u201cThe South Korean military detected four short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea from Tongrim, North Pyongan Province, to the West Sea at around 11:32am to 11:59am today,\u201d South Korea\u2019s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement on Saturday, using another name for the Yellow Sea.
\nTheir \u201cflight distance was detected at about 130 km (80 miles), an altitude of about 20 km, and a speed of about Mach 5\u201d, they added. Mach 5 is equivalent to five times the speed of sound.
\nThe United States and South Korea have warned that these launches could culminate in a nuclear test by North Korea, and extended their air force drills to Saturday in response. Vigilant Storm was originally scheduled to run from Monday to Friday.
\nPyongyang ramped up missile launches in response to the drills. Such exercises have long provoked strong reactions from North Korea, which sees them as rehearsals for an invasion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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