Missiles for an Olive Branch: North Korea Answers Seoul's Offer of Talks With a Ballistic Barrage
Pyongyang fired about a dozen short-range ballistic missiles Thursday, less than a week after South Korea proposed military talks over a landmine blast in the DMZ that wounded three South Korean soldiers. Here is what happened, what Seoul and Washington are doing, and what comes next.
By Clara Hughes
North Korea's answer to an offer of talks arrived by missile. At about 12:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, Oct. 29, North Korea fired around a dozen short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area on its east coast, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, according to Yonhap. The missiles flew roughly 250 kilometers toward the East Sea. AFP and Reuters, via Al Jazeera, put the number at about 10. Japan's Defense Ministry said what it described as a possible ballistic missile fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, Kyodo reported. The launch came less than a week after Seoul, on Oct. 23, proposed military talks with Pyongyang to calm a growing border crisis, the Associated Press reported. North Korea's previous missile launch was on Oct. 12, Yonhap noted. South Korea's military did not mince words. "Based on a staunch South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture," the JCS said, it will "overwhelmingly respond to any provocation." Seoul said it was coordinating closely with the United States and Japan. The landmine at the center of it The