North Korea fires missile, flies warplanes near border

SEOUL, Oct 14 (Reuters): North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile into the sea and hundreds of artillery rounds near the border with the South on Friday, South Korea's military said, the latest military activity by the nuclear-armed country amid heightened tensions.

South Korea also scrambled fighter jets when a group of about 10 North Korean military aircraft flew close to their heavily fortified border, and North Korea fired some 450 rounds of artillery into "sea buffer zones" on multiple occasions, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) condemned the North for escalating tensions, calling its moves a violation of a 2018 bilateral military pact that bans "hostile acts" in the border area.

Seoul imposed its first unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang in nearly five years, blacklisting 15 North Korean individuals and 16 institutions involved in missile development.

The JCS issued a warning to North Korea, urging it to stop provocations and escalating tension.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol told reporters that Pyongyang has been "indiscriminately carrying out provocations," vowing to devise "watertight countermeasures."