North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile After Allegations of US Intrusion

People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on July 12, 2023. Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images

North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile off its east coast on July 12, according to the South Korean and Japanese military, just two days after it warned of “counteraction” against alleged intrusions by U.S. spy planes and drones.

Both South Korea and Japan reported spotting the launch but haven’t released further details.

The launch occurred after North Korea’s most recent effort on June 15, which involved two short-range ballistic missiles that landed within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

The alleged July 12 launch followed an accusation by Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, that U.S. Air Force reconnaissance planes and drones had intruded into the airspace of North Korea’s exclusive economic zone on July 10.

“I have already notified beforehand the counteraction of our army upon authorization,” she was cited as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim Yo Jong (C), North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's younger sister, arrives at the Jinbu train station in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Feb. 9, 2018. Lee Jin-man/AP Photo

She warned that the U.S. forces will face “a very critical flight” if they continue to illegally cross into North Korea’s airspace, according to KCNA. North Korea’s Defense Ministry threatened to shoot down any spy aircraft intruding on its airspace.

North Korea stated that the United States had flown spy planes and a drone—RC-135, U-2S, and RQ-4B—over the East and West seas of Korea between July 2 and July 9 and warned that Washington would “pay the price.”

“In particular, a strategic reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force illegally intruded into the inviolable airspace of the DPRK over its East Sea tens of kilometers several times,” North Korea’s ministry stated, using North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

U.S. officials have dismissed North Korea’s allegations and called for a dialogue. Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh reiterated that the U.S. military operates in accordance with international law.

“I just don’t have anything more to say on those comments or threats coming out of North Korea, she said. ”We operate responsibly and safely in international waterways and airspace wherever we can,”

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has urged North Korea to refrain from escalatory actions and reiterated that Washington is willing to speak with North Korea without preconditions.

“We’ve made that clear on a number of occasions, and unfortunately, they have refused to engage in a meaningful way,” Mr. Miller told reporters.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's destroyer Atago (L), the U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (C), and the South Korean Navy's Aegis destroyer King Sejong the Great (R) sail during a joint missile defense drill in international waters of the east coast of the Korean peninsula on Feb. 22, 2023. South Korea Defense Ministry via AP

North Korea contends that a U.S. military presence in the region is proof of U.S. hostility. Pyongyang has also said its recent series of weapons launches were a response to what it called provocative military drills between the United States and South Korea.

On June 16, the United States sent the nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine USS Michigan to South Korea in response to North Korea’s missile launches. The deployment was part of the Washington Declaration signed between the two countries in April.

North Korea denounced the U.S. move and said the nuclear submarine deployment would escalate the military tension in the Korean Peninsula and “may incite the worst crisis of nuclear conflict in practice.”

“The demonstrative actions like the deployment of strategic assets by the U.S. will never lead to the promotion of security but rather become a disaster of bringing more painful and worrying security crisis they themselves do not want,” the North’s Defense Ministry stated on July 10.

North Korea has conducted a record number of ballistic missile tests this year, including short-range missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). It test-fired ICBMs at full range in March, the first ICBM test since 2017.

The United States and its allies have expressed fear that North Korea could be preparing to resume testing nuclear bombs for the first time since 2017.

Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.