South Korea Deploys Jets After Detecting 180 North Korean Military Flights

South Korean Air Force F-15Ks and U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets fly over the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea's intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) launch earlier in the day, on Oct. 4, 2022. South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images

North Korea conducted more than 180 military flights across its inland areas on Nov. 4, the South Korean military said, prompting it to scramble dozens of fighter jets to maintain its response posture.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected North Korean fighters and bombers flying over the North’s inland areas and along its western and eastern coasts between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. (local time), although the aircraft didn’t approach the inter-Korean border.

The JCS didn’t specify how many North Korean warplanes were involved, Yonhap News Agency reported.

South Korea responded by deploying 80 fighter jets, including its cutting-edge F-36A fighters, in order to keep “a firm readiness posture for further provocations” by North Korea, the JCS said.

“Our military is maintaining a firm readiness posture for further provocations while closely monitoring the North Korean military’s related movements under close cooperation between South Korea and the United States,” it stated.

North Korea Reaction to US-South Korea Drill

Prior to North Korea’s military flights, the regime of Kim Jong Un had warned South Korea and the United States that their decision to extend their large-scale joint air drill would result in “an uncontrollable phase.”

The Vigilant Storm drill was extended for another day, to Nov. 5, due to a barrage of North Korean missile launches last week, one of which is believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The drill involved 240 U.S. and South Korean aircraft.

A South Korean air force F-35A fighter jet takes off from the runway during the "Vigilant Storm" U.S.-South Korea joint aerial drill at Gunsan Air Base, South Korea on Oct. 31, 2022. South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images

In a statement on Nov. 4, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said that its military activities were in response to the U.S.–South Korea joint drills, which it said were “hostile provocations,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.

“The DPRK once again clarifies that it will never tolerate any attempt of the hostile forces to infringe upon its sovereignty and security interests but respond to it with the toughest counteraction to the last,” it said, using North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

US Envoy Condemns North Korea’s Launches

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Nov. 4 that 13 council members condemned North Korea’s unlawful missile launches, while two countries have “bent over backward” to justify North Korea’s actions.

Thomas-Greenfield didn’t directly mention China and Russia—both of which had refused to condemn North Korea’s missile tests at the U.N.—in a speech at a U.N. Security Council meeting.

“You don’t get to abandon Security Council responsibilities because the DPRK might sell you weapons to fuel your war of aggression in Ukraine or because you think they make a good regional buffer to the United States,” she said.

Thomas-Greenfield said that it was “appalling” that the U.N. Security Council had remained silent on North Korea’s repeated violations, even as that country had launched a “staggering” 59 ballistic missiles this year.

“For a U.N. member state to so flagrantly violate the Security Council resolutions and all that the U.N. Charter stands for, is appalling. Equally appalling is the council’s deafening silence on this issue,” she said.