South Korea launches ballistic missile in response to North Korea's recent tests

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has announced that South Korea conducted a live-fire exercise, launching a Hyunmoo-II surface-to-surface ballistic missile into the Yellow Sea as a demonstration of force following North Korea's recent missile tests. 

The exercise took place in Taean County, located 108 kilometres southwest of Seoul on November 7, just days after North Korea launched short-range ballistic missiles and tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last week, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

In the exercise, a South Korean missile unit fired the Hyunmoo-II missile in a scenario simulating a North Korean missile launch, targeting a maritime objective meant to represent the origin of the North's missile firing, the JCS said.

"Through this live-fire exercise, our military demonstrated its strong resolve to respond to any North Korean provocation as well as the capabilities and posture for precision strikes against the enemy's origin of provocation," the JCS stated. 

The military added that it would continue to closely monitor North Korea’s military activities in coordination with the US, maintaining readiness to "overwhelmingly" respond to any provocations from the North. North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea.

The missiles fired this week are believed to have been launched from the North’s 600-millimetre multiple rocket launchers. 

These launches followed the test-firing of North Korea's new Hwasong-19 ICBM, which the regime described as the "ultimate" version of its long-range missile capabilities.

By Naila Huseynova