SEOUL: North Korea fired four short-range ballistic missiles into the Yellow Sea on Saturday morning, according to the South Korean military.

The missiles, launched between around 11:32 a.m. (2:32 a.m. GMT) and 11:59 a.m. from North Pyongan Province in the northwestern part of North Korea, traveled about 130 kilometers at a maximum speed of approximately Mach 5, reaching a maximum altitude of some 20 kilometers.

The launches were believed to show Pyongyang’s protest over the Vigilant Storm joint large-scale aerial exercises by the US and South Korean militaries until Saturday.

Two US B-1B strategic bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula Saturday to take part in the joint drills. This was the first B-1B deployment to the peninsula since December 2017.

The day’s B-1B flight was apparently intended to warn against North Korea, which continues its provocations including the firing of what was believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile. Pyongyang is also seen to be preparing for its seventh nuclear test.

B-1B bombers can travel a long distance and fly at a maximum speed of Mach 1.2, and can be equipped with many bombs and missiles.

The Vigilant Storm exercises, joined by some 240 aircraft including cutting-edge stealth fighter jets, were initially scheduled to take place for five days until Friday, but were extended by one day following a series of missile launches by North Korea.

In a statement issued Friday, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman criticized the US-South Korean drills as “hostile provocations” and said that North Korea will respond to the exercises “with the toughest counteraction to the last.”

North Korea fired at least 23 missiles on Wednesday and six missiles including a suspected ICBM on Thursday, heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

JIJI Press