VOA新闻杂志2022--韩国回应朝鲜导弹发射

South Korea Answers North Korean Missile Launches

North Korea fired at least 23 missiles into the sea on Wednesday. One of the missiles landed less than 60 kilometers from South Korea's coast.

It was the first time a North Korean missile had landed near South Korea's waters since the two nations were divided in 1945. The number of missiles was also the highest launched by the North in one day.

At least one missile landed outside South Korea's territorial¹ waters, but south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a disputed inter-Korean maritime² border.

South Korean warplanes quickly answered by firing three air-to-ground missiles into the sea north across the NLL, the South's military said.

President Yoon Suk Yeol's office called North Korea's action an "act of territorial encroachment³." Reporters asked a top presidential official whether the missile was flying towards the South's territory and should have been intercepted⁵. The official answered: "...it did not land in our territory but in the Exclusive Economic Zone under our jurisdiction⁶..." An Exclusive Economic Zone is an area beyond a nation's territorial waters in which that nation still has special rights.

The United States condemned⁷ the North's missile launches and called the action "reckless."

Air raid warnings

South Korea's military said one of the North missiles landed about 57 kilometers from the South Korean city of Sokcho, on the east coast. Another landed about 167 kilometers from the island of Ulleung, where air raid warnings were sounded.

"We heard the siren at around 8:55 a.m. and all of us in the building went down to the evacuation place in the basement," an Ulleung county official told Reuters.

The North also fired more than 100 artillery⁸ shells from its east coast into a military-neutral area. South Korea's military said the firing violated a 2018 agreement banning hostile acts in border areas.

Nuclear-armed North Korea has tested a record number of missiles this year. Officials from South Korea and the U.S. said the North has completed technical work to test a nuclear weapon for the first time since 2017.

North Korea continues to test long-distance, or ballistic, missiles. It has done so although several United Nations Security Council resolutions ban all ballistic and nuclear tests by the country.

The North's missile tests on Wednesday came after a weekend tragedy in which more than 150 people were killed in a crowd surge that took place at a Halloween celebration. It was South Korea's largest disaster in years.

Major military exercises

The launches Wednesday started hours after North Korea demanded that the U.S. and South Korea stop the military exercises that started on Monday.

Called Vigilant⁹ Storm, the exercises involve 240 warplanes flying 24 hours a day. The exercises, which began October 31, are to continue through November 4 and include training both in the air and on the ground.

Earlier on Tuesday, a U.S. State Department spokesman said that the exercises were purely¹⁰ defensive¹¹ and not hostile toward the North.

But a member of the Central Committee of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party denounced the exercises. The member said that the number of warplanes involved in Vigilant Storm proved the exercise was "aggressive and provocative¹²" and targeted North Korea. He said even its name is similar to the U.S.-led Operation Desert Storm against Iraq in the 1990s.

South Korean officials said that because of the North's missile launches, some air paths over the sea between North Korea and Japan would be closed until Thursday.

Cheong Seong-Chang is an expert at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea. Cheong said the danger of armed clashes between the Koreas off their western or eastern coasts is increasing. He said South Korea needs to make "proportional responses" to North Korean actions, not "overwhelming responses." He added tensions could get out of control and possibly lead the North to use its nuclear weapons.

Words in This Story

encroachment –n. the action of slowly moving into an area beyond a usual limit

intercept⁴ –v. to meet or stop something before it gets to where it aims to go

evacuation –n. the process of moving people from an area or leaving an area because of the threat of danger

provocative –adj. meant to cause a reaction

proportional –adj. having a size or amount that is matched to another and not greater or smaller

overwhelming –adj. great in number and more than necessary

1 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

2 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

3 encroachment   

n.侵入，蚕食

参考例句：

• I resent the encroachment on my time.我讨厌别人侵占我的时间。
• The eagle broke away and defiantly continued its encroachment.此时雕挣脱开对方，继续强行入侵。

4 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

5 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

6 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

7 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

8 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

9 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

10 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

11 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

12 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。