US, South Korea warn Pyongyang against nuclear weapons use
Washington (AP): The US and South Korea jointly warned North Korea on on Thursday that use of any kind of nuclear weapon against Seoul or other regional allies would result in the end of Kim Jong Un's regime, as Pyongyang continued to rattle the peninsula with escalating missile tests.
North Korea has launched more than two dozen missiles over the last two days in response to US-South Korean military exercises that began on Monday.
The launches have sent South Koreans scrambling for shelter and further frayed the nerves of a population already mourning the loss of more than 150 people at a horrific Halloween crowd crush.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup, after meeting on Thursday at the Pentagon, released a joint statement saying they strongly condemned North Korea's escalating military flexing, including ballistic missile test launches, multiple rocket launches and coastal artillery.
Any use of nuclear weapons, including lower-yield tactical nuclear devices against Seoul or other regional allies such as Japan, would result in the end of Kim Jong Un regime by the overwhelming and decisive response of the alliance, Lee said at a joint news conference with Austin.
The US and South Korea will work on response options towards all possible nuclear use scenarios by North Korea, Lee said.
Austin said North Korea's increased aggression would not result in more US troops or assets, such as an additional aircraft carrier, being permanently relocated to the region but that Kim would see a greater US military presence rotating there.
In September the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan visited Korea for the first time in five years, Austin said.
Kim will "see assets move in and out, Austin said.
In its launches on Thursday, North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, drawing swift condemnation from the White House, which accused Pyongyang of destabilizing the security situation in the region.
The US and South Korea announced that the Vigilant Storm military exercise, which was scheduled to run through Friday, would be extended indefinitely.
Tensions between the US and North Korea have also increased over newly declassified reports that it is providing artillery for Russia to use against Ukraine.
North Korea was shipping an undisclosed number of artillery shells to Russia but trying to make it appear as though they're being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa, said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
North Korea has reacted to past US-South Korean military drills with missile tests, which was one reason former President Donald Trump called for the exercises to cease for more than a year as he unsuccessfully negotiated with the North Korean leader to end his pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Large-scale US-South Korean military exercises resumed this year. This fall's Vigilant Storm which involves more than 1,600 US and South Korean flights involving about 240 warplanes is the largest such exercise to date, according to the Pentagon.
Pak Jong Chon, a secretary of the North's Workers' Party who is considered a confidant of Kim Jong Un, has called the US-South Korean air force drills aggressive and provocative.
If the US and South Korea attempt to use armed forces against (North Korea) without any fear, the special means of the (North's) armed forces will carry out their strategic mission without delay, Pak said, in an apparent reference to his country's nuclear weapons.
North Korea in recent months has been testing a string of nuclear-capable missiles and it adopted a law authorizing the preemptive use of its nuclear weapons in a broad range of situations. Some experts still doubt North Korea would use nuclear weapons first in the face of US and South Korean forces.
The ballistic missile tests on Wednesday included at least 23 missiles as well as about 100 artillery shells that were fired into an eastern maritime buffer zone. South Korea's military said the 23 weapons were all short-range ballistic missiles or suspected surface-to-air missiles.
One of the ballistic missiles was flying toward South Korea's Ulleung island before it eventually landed 167 kilometers (104 miles) northwest of the island.
South Korea's military issued an air raid alert on the island, according to the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff. South Korean media published photos of island residents moving to underground shelters.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said at least two ballistic missiles fired by North Korea showed a possibly irregular trajectory. This suggests the missiles were the North's highly maneuverable, nuclear-capable KN-23 missile, which was modelled on Russia's Iskander missile.
In response to the missile barrage, South Korea quickly launched its own missiles in the same border area.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
