South Korea and the United States have fired eight surface-to-surface missiles off South Korea's east coast today in response to North Korea's short range ballistic missile launches on Sunday, the South's Yonhap news agency reports.
A man walks past a screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea on 5 June, 2022. Photo: AFP
The action is a demonstration of "the capability and readiness to carry out precision strike" against the source of North Korea's missile launches or the command and support centres, Yonhap cited the South Korean military as saying.
The militaries of South Korea and the United States fired eight surface-to-surface missiles for about 10 minutes starting around 4.45am today (local time) in response to the eight missiles fired by the North on Sunday, it said.
North Korea's short-range ballistic missiles, fired towards the sea off its east coast on Sunday, were likely its largest single test and came a day after South Korea and the United States ended joint military drills.
Last month, the combined forces of South Korea and the United States fired missiles in response to North Korea's launch of ballistic missiles, which the two allies say are violations of UN Security Council resolutions.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office last month, has vowed to take a tougher line against the North and agreed with US President Joe Biden at a May summit in Seoul to upgrade joint military drills and their combined deterrence posture.
- Reuters