A North Korean missile landed near the South Korean border for the first time on Wednesday. The South Korean military fired three surface-to-air missiles.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol condemned the North Korean missile launch as “actually a territorial invasion”. South Korea’s military said Seoul fired three surface-to-air missiles in response to the provocation.

Yoon Suk-yeol stressed that the North Korean provocation was a de facto territorial invasion by a missile that crossed the northern demarcation line for the first time since the division of the peninsula, the presidency said in a statement.

“Our military will never tolerate this provocative action by North Korea and will respond strongly in close cooperation with the United States,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said minutes earlier. Yonhap news agency reports.

Just before 9 a.m. this Wednesday (1 a.m. in Paris), Pyongyang launched at least ten missiles. One of these missiles reached the South Korean Sea in the Sea of ​​Japan, sixty kilometers from the coast. According to Seoul, it was “the first time” a North Korean missile landed “close to South Korean territorial waters south of the northern demarcation line”.

A shot that was also condemned by Japan

Japan also condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launch on Wednesday. Pyongyang “continues to launch missiles with an unprecedentedly high frequency, which will never be tolerated,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. Quoted by Yonhap news agency.

North Korea on Tuesday strongly criticized the announcement of joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington this week. “A provocation” according to Pyongyang and “can no longer be tolerated”, a North Korean official said during the day.

For several months, Pyongyang has warned both Seoul and Washington. These shots are the latest in a series including a few weeks agoAn intermediate range ballistic missile over Japan, where the people concerned should be asked to seek refuge. North Korea has justified the series of missile tests by US “military threats”.