South Korea Detects 180 North Korean Warplanes Near Border, Prompting Seoul To Scramble Fighter Jets

According to the country's military, South Korea sent out roughly 80 fighter airplanes after spotting a lot of North Korean warplanes over a four-hour period on Friday, escalating tensions in the region.

A day after Pyongyang is thought to have performed the unsuccessful IBMT, the South Korean military claimed in a statement that it had seen 180 North Korean military aircraft between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time.

North Korea Sends 180 Warplanes Near South

As the 'Vigilant Storm' joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, including hundreds of aircraft and thousands of service men from both nations, began on Monday, tensions on the Korean Peninsula started to rise.

South Korea responded with three surface-to-air missiles after North Korea launched 23 missiles from its east and west coasts on Wednesday, the most it has ever shot in a single day, accusing the allies of engaging in provocative behavior.

The statement stated that an undefined number of F-35A stealth fighter jets were deployed by South Korea on Friday, and the South Korean warplanes taking part in the current joint exercises also "kept a readiness posture."

Per CNN, following the alleged ICBM launch on Thursday, the US and South Korea stated they will prolong the drills for one additional day until November 5. According to state media, a North Korean official criticized the decision as "extremely hazardous and deceptive."

According to The Independent, the military of South Korea also claimed on Friday that North Korea had violated a 2018 agreement by firing an artillery barrage into a sea "buffer zone" overnight. An urgent meeting of the UN Security Council will be held on Friday as a result of North Korea's record-breaking barrage of missile launches this week.

Seoul has reacted after the North flew fighter planes dangerously near to the buffer zone twice in the last month. Similar maneuvers were performed by a flight of 10 warplanes last month.

US-South Korea Military Drills

North Korea had earlier this week threatened to respond to joint drills the US and South Korea were doing in the area with a "powerful" retaliation. Despite the North Korean sortie on Friday, the roughly 240 aircraft taking part in these "Vigilant Storm" air exercises with the United States resumed their training, according to the Pentagon.

The United States and South Korea have decided to continue their extensive joint drills until Saturday. Due to Pyongyang's ICBM test this week, the five-day drills, which had been planned to finish on Friday, have now been prolonged. The move has been denounced by ak Jong Chon, secretary of the Workers' Party's Central Committee in North Korea, who called it a "very dangerous decision" that is "shoving" the situation out of control.

Pyongyang's ICBM launch was deemed "illegal and destabilizing" by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Seoul and Washington pledged to take fresh actions to show their "determination and capability" in the face of the North's increasing threats.

According to authorities and experts, Pyongyang is stepping up its testing in retaliation for the US-South Korean drills. The recent launches by Pyongyang might be a sign of its seventh nuclear test, as Washington and Seoul have frequently warned, as per Daily Mail.

The combined air exercises, known as Vigilant Storm, have been denounced by Pyongyang as "an aggressive and provocative military practice targeting" North Korea, and if they continue, Washington and Seoul "will pay the most horrible price in history." The North's most recent launches occur as South Korea enters a period of national mourning following the deaths of over 150 people on Saturday in a crowd crush in Seoul, the most of whom were young women in their 20s.