A Spike missile is launched during the South Korean Marine Corps' full-scale live-fire drills on the western border island of Yeonpyeong, Wednesday. They were the first live-fire drills in the region in nearly seven years. Yonhap

Pyongyang test-fires ballistic missile toward East Sea, floats trash balloons for 2nd straight dayBy Kwak Yeon-soo

South Korea is stepping up drills to enhance deterrence against North Korea's provocations as tensions escalate on the Korean Peninsula, conducting live-fire exercises on western border islands, Wednesday.

It was the first live-fire drill in the region in nearly seven years, following Seoul's decision earlier this month to suspend the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement. The South, together with the United States and Japan, will also soon hold their first trilateral multi-domain exercise, called Freedom Edge.

These drills follow Pyongyang's deepening military ties with Russia, failed missile launch and continued balloon campaigns.

On Wednesday, the Marine Corps began live-fire drills on the northwestern border islands of Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong. The Marine Corps last conducted live-fire drills on the islands in August 2017. On June 4, the government decided to suspend the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement in response to the North sending trash-filled balloons across the border, allowing the military to resume the drills.

According to the Marine Corps, the artillery exercise involved mobilizing K-9 self-propelled howitzers and Chunmoo multiple rocket launch systems. During the drills, troops fired more than 290 live rounds into waters off the islands.

“The Marine Corps is ready to fight the enemy at a moment's notice. If the enemy provokes us, we will respond immediately, firmly and until the end,” a military official said.

Along with the live-fire drills, South Korea, the United States and Japan will kick off their first-ever trilateral multi-domain drill later this week.

The drill named Freedom Edge, which was established last year following the Camp David Summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, is a trilateral exercise that takes places across various domains including air, land, underwater and cyberspace. The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt will participate in the trilateral exercise.

Yoon visited the carrier, Tuesday, reaffirming his commitment to bolstering the three-way security cooperation against North Korean threats and calling for effective extended deterrence.

A trail of what appears to be a North Korean missile launch is seen from Incheon, Wednesday. North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea but the missile exploded in midair, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Yonhap

North Korea says it successfully conducted multiple warhead missile capability test 2024-06-27 06:34  |  North Korea

These drills are being conducted in response to North Korea's repeated provocations.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff also said, Wednesday, that North Korea had test-fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea. However, the missile exploded in midair after traveling approximately 250 kilometers.

“The missile is suspected to be a solid-fuel hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile. It exploded midair as it flew over the waters of North Korea’s eastern coastal city of Wonsan. The launch spewed a larger-than-normal amount of smoke because of a possible engine problem,” a JCS official said.

“North Korea’s missile launch appears to be a protest against the deployment of the USS Theodore Roosevelt and trilateral military drill planned for this week.”

Earlier on Monday, Pyongyang criticized the deployment of the U.S. aircraft carrier to take part in the joint drills with South Korea and Japan and warned of an “overwhelming, new demonstration of deterrence.”

The missile launch occurred hours after North Korea floated approximately 250 balloons carrying trash toward the South, marking the sixth such incident since late May. A JCS official said the balloons primarily contained scrap paper and waste, with no hazardous substances detected. The official also cautioned that the military stands prepared to activate loudspeakers near the border at a moment's notice.

The presidential office convened a security situation assessment meeting to discuss North Korea's recent ballistic missile launch.

Senior diplomats of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan communicated by phone and condemned the launch as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a serious threat to the peace and stability of the region.

Experts suggested that Pyongyang might conduct additional provocations during the military exercises, although it would likely aim to avoid escalating tensions further.

Yang Uk, a military expert at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said North Korea will probably exercise caution in escalating its level of provocation.

“North Korea could have staged more provocative military activities, but it refrained from doing so, mainly focusing on the balloon campaign. The latest missile test was probably aimed at improving the capacity of a hypersonic weapons system,” he said.

Yang added that North Korea could try to conduct joint military exercises with Russia, but Moscow does not seem to have enough artillery and capacity to do so.