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SEOUL: North Korea fired a ballistic missile, Seoul\u2019s military said Saturday, days after demanding an apology for a blast that wounded three South Korean soldiers in the DMZ that it blames on the North.<\/p>\n
Pyongyang has denied responsibility for last month\u2019s explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and called South Korea \u201cdespicable\u201d on Friday, undercutting overtures by Seoul\u2019s civilian leadership seeking a return to dialogue.<\/p>\n
Early Saturday, \u201cour military detected a ballistic missile launched from the Wonsan area of North Korea toward the East Sea,\u201d Seoul\u2019s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Korea, the US, and Japan are maintaining a robust defense posture through close information sharing regarding North Korean ballistic missiles,\u201d it said, adding the missile flew more than 700 kilometres (435 miles).<\/p>\n
Seoul and the US-led United Nations Command found that last month\u2019s explosion inside the DMZ, the heavily mined buffer dividing the two Koreas since their 1953 armistice, was caused by North Korean mines laid on the South side of the border.<\/p>\n
North Korea\u2019s military has laid mines and built anti-tank barriers along the frontier as part of efforts to permanently seal it off following leader Kim Jong Un\u2019s designation of South Korea as his country\u2019s \u201cprincipal enemy\u201d in 2024.<\/p>\n
The mines responsible for the blast, which left three soldiers wounded, were believed to have been laid as part of Pyongyang\u2019s border fortification work, according to South Korea\u2019s defence minister Kang Shin-chul.<\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s dovish President Lee Jae Myung had urged Pyongyang on Thursday to return to dialogue, despite his military demanding an apology a day earlier.<\/p>\n
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korea\u2019s leader, responded by calling Seoul \u201creally despicable\u201d on Friday and once again denied Pyongyang was behind the blasts.<\/p>\n
She ridiculed Lee\u2019s latest overture, calling it \u201cthe climax of the farce that everyone should watch\u201d and said the military\u2019s demand her country apologise was \u201cquite ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim also warned Pyongyang was \u201cready for anything\u201d Seoul might do over the mine blast — remarks followed the next morning by North Korea\u2019s ballistic missile launch.<\/p>\n
\u2018Escalating\u2019 tensions<\/strong><\/p>\n Analysts said the launch would be viewed as a show of force in response to the South Korean government\u2019s diplomatic efforts, effectively rejecting engagement.<\/p>\n \u201cSeoul called for easing tensions, but Pyongyang answered by escalating them,\u201d Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.<\/p>\n \u201cThe message is that the North is pursuing… confrontation in response to goodwill,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s defence minister said on Tuesday the military had \u201ca range of necessary measures at our disposal, and we will implement them in stages\u201d to respond to the DMZ incident, without providing further detail.<\/p>\n The South\u2019s Unification Minister, Chung Dong-young, also proposed talks to address issues along the border to Pyongyang on Friday.<\/p>\n Kim Yo Jong, however, dismissed Chung\u2019s suggestion of talks as a \u201cwild dream and unilateral jargon.\u201d<\/p>\n The flare-up comes at a sensitive time when US President Donald Trump\u2019s recent overtures to Pyongyang have raised concerns that Seoul — an ally of Washington — could be sidelined in potential nuclear talks involving the North.<\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s opposition People Power Party on Friday accused Lee of failing to criticise Pyongyang when warranted even as he takes a hard line on Ukraine for publicly disclosing the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war, an arrangement Seoul believed should be confidential.<\/p>\n \u201cSouth Korean soldiers have been injured, and far from receiving an apology, we have been mocked by North Korea,\u201d the opposition party said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe fail to see how selectively turning a blind eye to North Korea serves South Korea\u2019s dignity or the safety of its people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n