Fighter Jets, Missile Fly Over Korea in Latest Escalation on Nuclear Front

North Korea has launched at least one missile into the sea as it sent military aircraft near the border with South Korea, prompting Seoul to scramble fighter jets in the latest series of escalations to raise tensions on the peninsula.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff reported Thursday that 10 North Korean aircraft were flying toward the Special Reconnaissance Line, a boundary designated by South Korea north of the heavily fortified border between the two rival nations to warrant tactical action on the part of Seoul, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

In response, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff mobilized its own air force, including F-35A fighters, to fly sorties.

Shortly after, the armed forces of both South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), and fellow U.S. ally Japan reported the launch of an unknown ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan, known to Koreans as the East Sea.

The office of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio also published the established three-point protocol in response to North Korean missile launches. These include "Dedicate maximum effort to gather & analyze information, & provide the public speedy & adequate information," "Ensure the safety of aircraft, vessels, & other assets" and "Take all possible measures for precaution, incl. readiness for contingencies."

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command also responded to the launch in a statement shared with Newsweek.

"We are aware of a DPRK ballistic missile launch," the command said. "We have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies."

"We will continue consulting closely with our allies and partners to monitor the DPRK's destabilizing ballistic missile launches," it added. "The U.S. commitments to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad."

A spokesperson for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA), the official name of the North Korean military, later issued a statement reporting that "the south Korean army conducted an artillery fire for about 10 hours near the forward defence area of the KPA Fifth Corps on Oct. 13."

"Taking a serious note of this provocative action by the south Korean military in the frontline area, we took strong military countermeasures," the statement said. "The KPA sends a stern warning to the south Korean military inciting military tension in the frontline area with reckless action."

Pyongyang has significantly ramped up missile tests over the past year, and especially in recent weeks in apparent protest of joint exercises conducted by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo in the region.

Reached for comment by Newsweek, a Pentagon spokesperson referred to South Korean authorities for comment on the latest developments and referred to remarks last week by press secretary spokesperson Air Force Brigadier Patrick S. Ryder on U.S. military policy toward North Korea, officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"The DPRK is urged to immediately cease actions that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions, escalate military tensions, destabilize the region, and endanger the peace and security of innocent people," Ryder said at the time.

He also said the recent trilateral exercises involving the U.S., South Korea and Japan "send a clear message of allied unity between our nations and enhance the interoperability of our collective forces" and "demonstrate the deep strength of our trilateral relationship with Japan and the Republic of Korea, which is resolute against those who challenge regional stability."

"Moving forward, we will continue to consult closely with our allies and partners and stand ready to respond appropriately to any potential future provocative acts by North Korea," he added. "As always, we remain committed to preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific and peace and stability throughout the region."

Amid the recent launches, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has touted his country's nuclear capabilities, warning he was prepared to use them to deter any threats.

In his latest message, delivered as he oversaw the launch of another long-range cruise missile on Wednesday, Kim praised his "nuclear combat forces," which he said "proved again their full preparedness for actual war to bring the enemies under their control at a blow through the unconditional, mobile, precise and powerful counterstrike by any weapon system," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

"Stressing again that the test-fire is…another clear warning to the enemies and the practical verification and clear demonstration of the absolute reliability and combat capacity of our state's war deterrent," the outlet reported, "Kim Jong Un added that we should continue to expand the operational sphere of the nuclear strategic armed forces to resolutely deter any crucial military crisis and war crisis at any time and completely take the initiative in it."

These developments came as South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol mulled over new measures to deter further North Korean action, with some lawmakers calling for the scrapping of a 2018 military agreement with Pyongyang and even the potential redeployment of U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea three decades after their withdrawal.

In response to questions over a report in the Chosun Ilbo newspaper that alleged Yoon's administration was already in talks with Washington on the matter, the South Korean leader said Thursday that "there are diverse opinions across our nation and in the United States regarding extended deterrence, so I am listening to them carefully and looking carefully at various possibilities," according to Yonhap.

Asked about the possibility of whether President Joe Biden's administration would consider such a move, a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek Wednesday that "President Biden affirmed the U.S. extended deterrence commitment to the ROK using the full range of U.S. defense capabilities, including nuclear, conventional, and missile defense capabilities."

The spokesperson also noted the reactivation of the high-level Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group, which met last month.

"We also committed to further strengthen deterrence by reinforcing the combined defense posture and reiterated our joint commitment to a conditions-based transition of wartime operational control," the spokesperson added.

North Korea received a brief mention in the new 48-page National Security Strategy released earlier Wednesday, which noted that Pyongyang "continues to expand its illicit nuclear weapons and missile programs."

"We will seek sustained diplomacy with North Korea to make tangible progress toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the document said, "while strengthening extended deterrence in the face of North Korean weapons of mass destruction and missile threats."

While North Korea's missile activities have been met with condemnation from the U.S. and its allies, China and Russia have avoided directly criticizing the neighboring nation and have called for renewed diplomatic efforts to resolve the decades-long standoff on the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she was aware of reports of Washington and Seoul potentially entering into talks about the redeployment of nuclear weapons in South Korea, and said "relevant parties need to fulfill their respective international obligations and commitments, and take concrete actions to uphold peace and stability on the Peninsula and in this region."

As for North Korea's launches, she said, "China's position on the Korean Peninsula issue remains unchanged" and that the country "is committed to upholding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."

Though Beijing has traditionally been Pyongyang's closest ally, having backed North Korea directly in the 1950s war with U.S. and U.N.-backed South Korea, Moscow, which helped establish the communist state in the wake of World War II, has grown especially close to Pyongyang in recent years, especially as Kim offered backing for Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

Georgy Zinoviev, head of the First Asian Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday that "we highly appreciate the firm support the North Korean government has given and is giving to the Russian special military operation in Ukraine." And he said Moscow was interested "in further expanding cooperation between our countries to ensure peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," according to the state-run TASS Russian News Agency.

"I am convinced that the successful implementation of our common plans will bring real benefits to the peoples of Russia and North Korea," Zinoviev said. "It will be an important factor in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the Northeast Asia region, and will enable us to successfully confront challenges and threats from forces seeking undivided domination in the international arena."

Newsweek has reached out to the South Korean National Defense Ministry and U.S. Forces Korea for comment.