North Korea fired multiple artillery shots in the direction of South Korea on Sunday, presumably from multiple rocket launchers, South Korea's military said, in what would be yet another show of force by the reclusive regime.
The Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it had detected "several trajectories" believed to be artillery shots from around 8:07 a.m. to 11:03 a.m. It gave no additional details, such as the exact number of shots launched and the origin of the firing, according to The Korea Herald.
"While bolstering our military's surveillance and vigilance, South Korea and the United States are working closely and maintaining a thorough readiness posture," the JCS said.
"While bolstering our military's surveillance and vigilance, South Korea and the United States are working closely and maintaining a thorough readiness posture."
Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff
The launch came a week after North Korea fired eight short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea.
Shangri-La summit
South Korea, Japan and the US agreed to regularize and publicize trilateral missile defense exercises and come up with further trilateral actions to deter North Korea’s ballistic missile threats during a meeting at the Shangri-La Dialogue Asian security summit on Saturday.
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup held the trilateral talks with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi at noon local time. The rare in-person meeting was held on the sidelines of the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue Asian security summit.
The defense chiefs discussed ways to enhance trilateral security cooperation against North Korean threats and address other common security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, according to the joint press statement.
The three leaders promised to continue close trilateral coordination toward the goal of achieving complete denuclearization and establishing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Seoul trilateral meeting
North Korea's missile tests are "serious, unlawful" provocations, senior officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan said on Wednesday, as they urged it to return to dialog and accept help to tackle COVID-19.
South Korea Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-Dong, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori leveled the criticism as they met in Seoul, days after North Korea conducted its latest missile tests and with signs it is preparing what would be its first nuclear test since 2017.
The three-way meeting of the countries' second most senior diplomats, the first such gathering since November and the first since President Yoon Suk-Yeol took office in South Korea in May, highlighted international anxiety about North Korea's intensifying weapons tests.
Missile launches
South Korea and the United States fired eight surface-to-surface missiles early on Monday last week off South Korea's east coast in response to North Korea's short-range ballistic missile launches on Sunday, the South's Yonhap news agency reported on Monday.
The militaries of South Korea and the United States fired eight surface-to-surface missiles for about 10 minutes starting at 4:45 a.m. on Monday in response to the eight missiles fired by the North.
The action is a demonstration of "the capability and readiness to carry out precision strike" against the source of North Korea's missile launches or the command and support centers, the South Korean military said.