North Korea carried out a ballistic missile launch on Saturday, October 3, according to South Korea’s military, the latest provocation in a sharp escalation between the two Koreas.
“Our armed forces detected a ballistic missile fired from the Wonsan area of North Korea in the direction of the East Sea,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said, using the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.
The projectile fell into the sea roughly 700 kilometers from its launch point, the military added.
Pyongyang Touts AI Guidance Capability
In a statement, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said the missile “is capable of altering its flight trajectory at low altitude and AI [artificial intelligence] has been integrated into it,” without specifying how the technology is used.
Tensions Mount Over DMZ Incident
The launch comes amid renewed friction between North and South Korea, after Seoul accused its neighbor of planting anti-personnel mines inside its portion of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the peninsula. The explosion of two of the devices wounded three South Korean soldiers on September 21.
Seoul has demanded an apology for the incident, calling it a “flagrant violation of the 1953 armistice agreement,” but North Korea has denied any responsibility.
Pyongyang Rejects Outreach From Seoul
North Korea remains under heavy United Nations sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, which it regards as a life insurance policy against any attempt by the United States to invade or overthrow its regime. It has systematically rejected all overtures made in recent months by South Korea’s center-left president, Lee Jae-myung.
Pyongyang “will never tolerate even the slightest breach or any possible space for contact with the Republic of Korea, under any circumstances,” Kim Yo-jong said Friday, according to the official KCNA news agency.
“Sitting at the same table as the Republic of Korea is in itself a nightmare,” she said, adding that “this is the conclusion we reached after our past experience, which was more than sufficient.”
